Time Lady and her Time Lord
by loulouflowerpower
Summary: 10/OC-Time Lady. The Doctor and the Hatter have managed to survive The-Year-That-Never-Was, growing even closer as their friendship has reached a new height. Martha Jones has left them and Donna Noble has arrived, but is it possible that Donna has already met the Hatter from when she was still human? What does that mean for the Time Lady? Sequel to The Time Lady and two Time Lords.
1. Chapter 1Voyage of the damned part 1

_**Disclaimer: I'm afraid that I don't own Doctor Who, or any of its wonderful characters, I only own my OC Time Lady, the Hatter.**_

_**First off, I suggest that you read the first two stories of this saga to fully understand what is happening and more about the Hatter. If you have any questions about her past, then feel free to PM and I'll be more than happy to help, or give you vague answer if I can't tell you fully without revealing something that might be important later :)**_

_**Just as a reminder on what the Hatter looks like: the Hatter is currently in her 10 incarnation after being shot on the Valiant, she has straight blonde hair with a side fringe, baby blue eyes, about 5'9 in height, is quite pale, like all of her past incarnations, high cheek bones, thin but not over the top thin, and has a light Scottish accent.**_

_**She has yet to choose her chosen outfit but it will make its first appearance in Partners in Crime :)**_

_**Voyage of the damned, part 1.**_

The Doctor and the Hatter quickly set to work using various controls on the console, tossing the life preserve out of the way when it got in the way as they pushed the ship away, materializing within the main ship.

The Doctor took the Hatter hand and pulled her toward the doors, opening them and peeking out to find that they had materialized inside a supply closet. They stepped out of the TARDIS, looking around the small space before opening the doors and walking out into a large room, decorated with Christmas things, wood-panelling, and palm trees dotted the room, men and women walking around, dressed in 20th century clothing.

The Doctor and the Hatter glanced at each other before moving further into the room, eyeing the people walking around as a band played a slower version of 'Jingle Bells' at the front, people talking and laughing. They walked further, eyeing two golden angels garbed in white. The Hatter jumped back into the Doctor's chest as one of the angles suddenly moved, revealing themselves to be robots.

"Hey, are you alright?" the Doctor asked softly, putting a hand on her arm to steady her, looking at her, clearly concerned. He had noticed that ever since she had regenerated, she had seemed jumper then her last body, something that made upset to think that it could have been carried over by her last incantations fear of regenerating.

"Yeah, just took me by surprise," she shook her head, casting the robots a slightly uneasy look as she passed them, making her way toward a large window, looking out of it.

"Right…" the Doctor blinked, coming up behind her to look outside, finding himself staring at the Earth as they floated above it in space.

"Lovely," the Hatter remarked, blinking slightly as she hadn't expect that. Ever since she regenerated, her mind seemed to be taking longer than usual to spot things that weren't right, hence, not realising that the gold angels were really robots, "We're on an intergalactic cruise ship. At least we don't have to worry about getting sea sick".

The Doctor gave her a sideways look, "Sea sick?"

"My seventh body wasn't very good when it came to the ocean," she grimaced, thinking back, "Flying through time and space, sure but put her on a boat…" she shivered, "Until that adventure, I didn't even think that Time Lords could get sea sick. Boy was I proven wrong".

The Doctor opened his mouth but he was cut off by the loudspeaker suddenly announcing, "Attention all passengers. The _Titanic_ is now in orbit above Sol 3, also known as Earth. Population: human. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Christmas".

"Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling?" the Hatter sighed, glancing at the Doctor standing beside her, exchanging looks before they turned and began making their way back toward the TARDIS.

…

The Doctor was standing in the console, fiddling with the cuffs of his black tuxedo while he waited for the Hatter to finish getting changed, something that seemed to be taking forever seeing as this was the first time this body had been given the chances to change, even if it was for something that she wasn't likely to wear on a daily bases.

He leaned back on the console, giving up on his cuffs when he caught sight of the Hatter walking toward him, she stopped when she noticed him staring at her, his mouth half hanging open as he took her in.

She was dressed in a TARDIS blue, knee length dress with a gold embellished neckline and waistband, matching blue platform heels, and on top of her head was a blue, netted veil hat that was adorned with defined swirls. She had put her hair up in a fishtail bun at the base of her neck, red lipstick, gold eye shadow, and the same earrings that she wore when she went to Lazarus Labs, a sliver clutch bag, and her Gallifreyan necklace.

"You…wow…" he breathed, staring transfixed at her, unable to look away.

"Thank you," the Hatter blushed, brushing a bit of her fringe away as she looked him up and down, "You look very handsome yourself, or though…" she frowned, walking forwards and picked up the ends of his bowtie, "Shouldn't this be tied around your next, not left hanging there?"

"I was waiting for you," the Doctor smiled, "It didn't seem right without you fixing it for me".

"You can be such a child, sometimes," she said fondly, shaking her head before setting to work tying his tie, smoothing his shoulders and lapels down before stepping back, giving him a small nod, "There, that's much better".

"We don't have to do this now, you know," he told her, looking concerned, "We could always do this later".

"Too late, I'm already dressed," she shook her head, "It already took me twenty minutes to pick this dress out, let alone everything else".

"I just don't want you to hurt yourself…"

"I won't," the Hatter cut him off, "And even if I do, I'm in safe hands, _Doctor_".

The Doctor smiled, linking his arm through hers as they walked back outside the TARDIS and back to the main hall, looking around as the Hatter noticed a small screen. She pointed it out to the Doctor and walked over to it, pressing a button and watching as the video started.

A bald man with an extremely thin moustache popped up on screen, sitting behind a desk, "Max Capricorn Cruise Liners, the fastest, the farthest, the best. And I should know because my name is Max," he smiled widely at the camera, revealing a gold tooth that glinted brightly in the light, before the screen faded and was replaced by the cruise line logo.

"Oh dear," the Hatter sighed, eyeing the screen in disbelief, turning around to find the Doctor fiddling with his tie and making her roll her eyes, "Stop it," she told him, batting his hands away and straightening it, making him grin at her, "Now, don't play with it or I won't be very pleased with you," she warned, stepping back and giving him a look.

"Maybe that's what I'm trying to do because you're cute when you're angry".

She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, "Watch it, your treading on thin ice, mister. Don't forget, two can play at that game".

The Doctor mimicked her, "Yes?"

The Hatter's eye lit up as she smiled wickedly at him, she cast a glance around the room before nodding to a man standing on the other side, chatting to one of his friends, "See him? I'll walk right over there and start flirting with him, shouldn't be too hard with this new body…"

"Don't you dare," he wrapped his arm around her waist, passively and pulled her closer to him, leaning down so that their faces were only inches apart, "You're not going anywhere".

"Spoil-sport," she sighed before laughing, making him give her a confused look, "You didn't actually believe me, did you? I was only joking; I could never do that to you. I love you too much".

The Doctor blinked, "Good," he shook his head and started walking toward the reception, keeping his arm around the Hatter as they walked.

"Merry Christmas, Sir, Ma'am," a steward greeted as they passed.

"Merry Christmas," the two Time Lords smiled back, laughing together merrily.

They continued walking into the ballroom, passing by a man with slicked back hair and dressed in a tuxedo, talking quite loudly into a communication device, "It's not a holiday for me, not while I've still got vone," he was saying into the device, his voice taking on an edge as he spoke again, "Now do as I say and sell!"

"Charming fellow," the Hatter remarked quietly as the man walking away, watching him go with a slight frown on her face.

"Never mind him," the Doctor shook his head, pulling her over to one of the robotic angels, "Evening," he greeted it, nodding, "Passengers 57 and 58. Terrible memory. Remind me. Uh, you would be…"

"Information: Heavenly Host supplying tourist information," the angel robot replied.

"Good," the Doctor nodded, exchanging looks with the Hatter, "So, um…tell me, 'cos I'm an idiot…"

"You do seem to have your moments," the Hatter remarked, dodging out his way as he tried to flick her nose.

He shook his head, turning back to the robot, "Sorry, but where are we from?"

"Information: the _Titanic_ is en route from the planet Sto in the Cassavalian Belt," it told them, the Hatter cast her eye around the room again, this time looking quite impressed, "The purpose of the cruise is to experience primitive cultures".

"The _Titanic_…" the Hatter said slowly, tilting her head to the side as she exchanged looks with the Doctor, "I'm just curious…who thought of the name?"

"Information: it was chosen as the most famous vessel of the planet Earth".

"Did they tell you _way_ it was famous?" the Doctor asked, raising his eyebrows at the Host.

"Information: all designations are chosen by Mr Max Capricorn, president of Max…Max…Max…" it began repenting Max over and over, becoming more high-pitched as its head jerked.

"Ohh, bit of a glitch…" the Doctor remarked, reaching inside his jacket to pull out his sonic but paused when the Hatter touched his arm, gesturing with her head over to a steward who came running toward them.

"Sir, we can handle this," the man told them as he reached them a moment later, waving to a couple of other men who hurried over and began switching the robot off, dragging it away, "Software problem, that's all," the steward told the two Time Lords, looking slightly tense as he tried not to show it, "Leave it with us, Sir, Ma'am. Merry Christmas".

"Merry Christmas," the Hatter nodded, giving him a friendly smile as he nodded, hurrying after his team as they dragged the robot out of the room as quickly as they could. She looked at the Doctor, arching an eyebrow, "Is it just me or did he seem a little too stressed over just a glitch?"

"And here I was hoping that we could have a normal trip without getting into trouble," he sighed, making her laugh, "What? I did. This is the first trip we've been on in over a year; I wanted it to be special".

"Every trip with you is special, sweetheart," she smiled, giving him a small wink as she kissed his cheek before rubbing the red lipstick mark away with her thumb, making him shack his head.

The Doctor linked his arm through hers again and they set off, walking around the room when a crash of something glass shattered close by, making them stop and turn to see the man from earlier with slicked back hair, glaring at a young blonde women dressed as a waitress, holding a tray of drinks with one that she had accidently dropped on the floor.

"For Tov's sake, look where you're going!" the man shouted at the women, "This jacket's a genuine Earth antique".

"I'm sorry, Sir," the women said, kneeling down to start picking up the broken glass.

"You'll be sorry when it comes off your wages, sweetheart," the man glared at her, looking down at her, "Staffed by idiots. No wonder Max Capricorn is going down the drain," he sent her one last glare before turning on his heel and storming off.

The Hatter gave him a cold look as he passed before hurrying forward and kneeling down to help the young women, "Careful," she gave her a friendly smile, making the women blink in surprise at someone coming to help her, "I would hate to see you get yourself hurt while you're just trying to do your job. Let me help".

"Thank you, Ma'am," the women smiled gratefully at her, still slightly taken aback, "But I can manage".

"I don't doubt that for a moment," the Time Lady said kindly, continuing to help pick up pieces of glass, "I'm the Hatter, by the way," she nodding to the Doctor who had kneeled down beside her and began helping, "And he's the Doctor," she looked back at the women, "May I ask you who you are, seeing as you now know us?"

"Astrid, Ma'am," she smiled; using her free hand to shack the Hatter's outstretched one, "Astrid Peth".

"Nice to meet you, Astrid Peth," the Doctor gave her a smile, shaking her hand after the Hatter, "Merry Christmas".

"Merry Christmas," Astrid blinked, surprised by how kind they both were, "You both enjoying the cruise?"

The Doctor looked around, smiling as he looked at the Hatter, "Um…yeah, I suppose. I don't know. Hatter, what do you think so far?"

"I've found it fun," she nodded, smiling as she looked around before back to them, "So, what about you, Astrid?" the women blinked again as they stood, "It's a long way from home, Planet Sto".

"Doesn't feel that different," Astrid shook her head, leaning closer to them and saying quietly, "I spent three years working at the spaceport diner, travelled all the way here…and I'm still waiting on tables".

She shook her head and walked away, the Doctor and the Hatter following after her, "No shore leave?" the Doctor asked her.

"We're not allowed," Astrid sighed, picking up a couple of glasses that had been left behind on a table by the window, "They can't afford the insurance. I just wanted to try it, just once. I used to watch the ships heading off to the stars and always dreamt of…" she shook her head, looking embarrassed, "It sounds daft…"

"Not at all, it sounds brilliant," the Hatter smiled at her, turning to look outside the window with a slightly wistful look, "You dreamt of another sky with a new sun, breathing new air, seeing new life. The entire Universe is just teeming with life. Why stand still when there's so much out there to see?"

The Doctor smiled at her, knowing that she was thinking of when she was a kid, dreaming of travelling the Universe, just like he used to.

Astrid blinked a few times, coming out of the trance that she had been put under while the Hatter had been talking, looking back at them, "So…you travel a lot?"

"All the time," the Doctor grinned, putting his arm around the Hatter, "Just for fun".

"Well, that's the plan," the Hatter rolled her eyes, "More often than not, we're running for our lives but there's nothing better. Well, maybe saving the day…"

"Must be rich, though," Asrid remarked at the Hatter trailed off.

"Haven't got a penny," the Doctor told her, leaning forward and whispering, "Stowaways".

"Kidding?" she stared at them.

"Seriously," the Hatter grinned, giving her a small wink.

"No!"

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor nodded, smiling at her reaction.

"How did you get on board?"

"Accident," the Doctor explained, rubbing the back of his neck slightly, "We've got this, sort of, ship thing. I was just rebuilding her…"

"He means, _his_ ship," the Hatter cut in, giving the Doctor a look.

"Left the defences down," he continued, shaking his head at the Hatter's words. He had always thought of his TARDIS being there's, seeing as they were together when they first snuck inside, "Bumped into the _Titanic. _Here we are. Bit of a party, we thought 'why not?'"

"I should report you," Astrid told them, making them both grin.

"Go on then," they said in unison, knowing full well that she wouldn't.

Astrid hesitated, glancing behind her before back to them, looking slightly worried, "I'll get you two a drink…" she whispered, "On the house," she added before walking off, passing a table with a group of first class passengers who were laughing and pointing at a table across from them, were a large couple, dressed in purple western customs were eating.

The Hatter frowned at the laughing group, before snatching the Doctor's hand, making him wince and look at her in concern, "What's wrong?" he asked, thinking it was something to do with her still regenerating.

"Sorry, I just had to grab your hand to stop myself from walking over to those fools and giving them a piece of my mind," the Hatter replied, taking a deep breath as she noticed his still concerned face, "Don't worry, there's nothing wrong aside from my temper being tested. You know how much I hate bullying".

"Well, why don't we go and say hi?" the Doctor suggested, grinning at her in a way that made her realise he was up to something but before she could ask, he had grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the couple.

"Just ignore 'em," the man told the women sitting beside him.

"Something's tickled them," the Doctor remarked, pulling out a chair across the table from the couple for the Hatter before taking a seat himself, eyeing the still laughing group.

"They told us it was fancy dress," the women told them, gesturing to her clothing, "Very funny, I'm sure".

The Hatter grabbed the Doctor's hand under the table and squizzed it gently but firmly. She knew what it was like to be bullied, how horrible it could make you feel. She had spent most of her childhood being picked on by her older cousins and still hadn't forgotten how lonely she had felt because of it.

The Doctor cast her a worried look, noticing how upset she was but trying to hide it from him. He too knew what it was like to be bullied as a child, his own cousins hadn't been the kindest towards him, nor had his fellow class mates because they thought he was odd or just stupid, when the truth was that he was smarter then most of them, only he chose not to show it, knowing that the High Council would try to get him to work for them.

"They're just pickin' on us because we haven't paid," the man added, putting a hand on the women's arm as he looked back to the Time Lords, "We won our tickets in a competition".

"I had to name the five husbands of Joofie Crystall in 'By the Light of the Asteroid,'" the women told them, smiling, "Did you ever watch…"

"That's the one with the twins, yes?" the Hatter asked, titling her head to the side.

"The Hatter's brilliant at shows like that," the Doctor remarked, shooting her a grin as she blushed, "I've given up watching them with her because she's even quicker than me when she wants to be".

"Says motor mouth," the Time Lady rolled her eyes, giving him a slightly amused look as he flicked the tip of her nose.

"That's it," the women nodded, confirming the Hatter's question, "Oh, it's marvellous".

"Probably not good enough for that lot," the man shook his head, gesturing to the still laughing table, "They think we should be in steerage".

"Can't have that, can we?" the Doctor commented, winking at the Hatter as he reached inside his jacket and pulled out his sonic, crossing his arm and aiming the sonic through it. The champagne sitting in the middle of the groups table cork popped off, spraying the group with the liquid, causing some of the women to yelp.

"Did…did _you_ do that?" the women asked, looking at him as the Hatter covered up her delighted smile with her hand.

"Maybe," the Doctor grinned, tucking the sonic away as he noticed the smile on the Hatter's face. Rassilon, he loved it when she smiled, especially when she was smiling at something he had done.

"We like you," the women laughed, pointing at the Hatter as she noticed her trying to cover up her smile, "And you".

"We do," the man nodded, smiling at them.

"I feel honoured," the Hatter said honestly, smiling at them as the Doctor grinned broadly.

"I'm Movin Van Hoff," the man introduced himself, reaching out and shacking the Doctor's hand, and then the Hatter's, "This is my good women, Foon," he smiled, gesturing at the women sitting beside him.

"Foon," the Doctor repented, shaking Foon's hands, "Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is…well, my good women, the Hatter," he smiled, putting a gently hand on the Hatter's hand as she shook Foon's with her other.

"_Your good women, hey_?" the Hatter said telepathically to the Doctor, raising her eyebrows with an amused look.

"_Yep_," he replied back, grinning madly.

"Ooh, I'm gonna need a Doctor by the time I'm finished with this buffet," Foon remarked, nodding to the pile of food sitting in front of them, "Have a buffalo wing," she nodded to the Time Lords, "They must be enormous, these buffalo, so many wings".

The Doctor smiled and picked up a wing, holding it toward the Hatter who took it gratefully as she hadn't eaten anything in the last 24 hours, not to mention that the regeneration hadn't helped.

"Attention please," the loudspeaker announced just as the Doctor and the Hatter began eating, "Shore leave tickets Red 6-7 now activated. Red 6-7".

"Red 6-7," Foon said, pulling out a red ticket and looking at it, "That's us," she stood and looked at the Time Lords, the Hatter still nibbling away at her wing, "Are you Red 6-7?"

The Doctor shrugged, grinning, "Might as well be," he stood and held out his hand to the Hatter, "Come on, Hatter".

"But I'm hungry," the Time Lady whined, standing up reluctantly as she cast a longing look toward the food, "I haven't had anything to eat in hours. Days even".

"When we get back to the TARDIS, I'll make you whatever you want," the Doctor smiled, putting his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, "We can snuggle up in your room…" the Hatter raised her eyebrows at that but didn't interrupt, "Then we can eat something while watching whatever you want…"

"Sherlock?" she asked hopefully.

The Doctor groaned, "Really? You want to watch Sherlock _again_?"

"Of course," the Hatter grinned, "Sherlock never gets old. I can watch that pool scene with Moriarty having that show down with Sherlock and John a thousand times and I will still love it. Not to mention Benedict Cumberbatch…"

"I thought you were supposed to be convincing me, not giving me a reason to delete every episode on the TARDIS database," the Doctor cut in.

"Yeah, good luck with that," the Hatter rolled her eyes, looking amused, "In case you haven't noticed, the TARDIS happens to be a fan of Sherlock. I'd watch what you said, sweetheart".

"Just my luck to end up with a TARDIS that sides with you," he muttered, sighing and holding up his hands, "Alright, we'll do whatever you want," he slowly smiled, leaning closer and whispering her ear, making her shiver, "But don't think for a moment that you've won. Not yet".

She swallowed, quickly nodding as she looked around and spotted Foon and Morvin about to walk away, "Hey, just remind us," she said to them casually, trying to make out that they had just forgotten, "But…where are we going?"

Morvin shook his head at them, laughing, "We're going to Earth," he put an arm around Foon and headed off, leaving the Time Lords to hurry after them.

They walked only a short distance, just across the room to where an older man, going slightly bald, dressed in a tweed suit was holding up a red sign with '6-7' written across it, "Red 6-7!" the man called, loudly, "Red 6-7. This way, fast as you can".

The Von Huffs hurried over to the man, the Doctor and the Hatter following after them as Astrid approached them, "I got you those drinks," she told them, smiling as she carried a tray with two drinks on it.

"And we've got you a treat," the Hatter grinned as the Doctor took the tray from her, sitting it aside as the Hatter grabbed Astrid's arm, "Come on".

"Red 6-7 departing shortly," the man called again.

The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and showed it to the man, "Red 6-7s plus one".

The man frowned slightly, looking at the paper before nodding, "Uh, quickly, Sir, and please take three teleport bracelets if you would.

"I'll get the sack," Astrid whispered to the Time Lords as they slipped the bracelets on their wrists.

"Oh, come on," the Hatter smiled, passing her one of the teleport bracelets, "Live a little, just for one night. Think of it, a brand new sky".

Astrid looked at her for a moment, glancing down at the bracelet before taking it and slipping it on.

"To repeat, I am Mr Copper, the ship's historian," the man standing in front of them introduced, "And I shall be taking you to old London town in the country of U.K. ruled by good King Wenceslas," the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks, frowning, "Now human beings worshipped the great god Santa, a creature with fearsome claws, and his wife Mary," the Doctor and the Hatter's eyebrows rose, eyeing the talking man with odd looks, "And every Christmas Eve the people of U.K. go to war with the country of Turkey," the Time Lords blinked at that, "They then eat the Turkey people for Christmas dinner…like savages".

"Excuse me," the Doctor cut in, frowning, "Sorry, sorry, but, um…where did you get all this from?"

"Well, I have a first class degree in Earthonomics," Mr Copper told him, seeming to be trying to get off the topic, "Now stand by…"

"And me!" a tiny red-skinned alien with small spikes along his head appeared, running toward them, "And me! Red 6-7!"

"Well, take a bracelet, Sir," Mr Copper said, gesturing to them in front of him.

"Um, but, um, hold on, hold on," the Doctor stepped forward, eyeing the tiny alien, "What was your name?"

"Bannakaffalatta," the red-skinned alien replied, making both Time Lords blink as how fast he said it.

"Okay, Bannakaffalatta…" the Doctor nodded slowly, "But it's Christmas Eve down there. Late night shopping, tons of people. He's like a walking conker. No offence," he quickly added at the look the Hatter gave him, "But you'll cause a riot 'cos the streets are going to be packed with shoppers and parties…" and without any warning, the entire group was transported down to Earth, finding them in a compliantly empty street, "Oh…"

"Something's wrong," the Hatter frowned, looking around the deserted street, "Why isn't there anyone around? There's not even a cat or dog!"

"Now, spending money," Mr Copper said, holding up a card that resembled an Earth credit card, "I have a credit card in Earth currency if you want to be tickets or, uh, stockings or the local delicacy, which is known as 'beef' but don't stray too far, it could be dangerous. Any day now they start boxing…"

"The Hatter's right, it should be full," the Doctor nodded, moving closer to the Hatter as he cast a look around the street while some of the others began walking away, "It should be bust. Something's wrong".

"But it's beautiful," Astrid breathed, staring around in awe.

"Really?" the Doctor asked, turning to look at her as the Hatter continued to frown at the empty street, feeling uneasy, "Do you think so? It's just a street. The pyramids are beautiful, and New Zealand…"

"But it's a different planet!" Astrid said in amazement, gesturing around herself, "I'm standing on a different planet. Th…there's concrete…and shops, alien shops, real alien shops! Look, no stars in the sky. And it smells…" she took a deep breath, "It stinks!" she gasped, looking delight as she turned to them, "This is amazing! Thank you!"

She ran forward and pulled them both into a big hug, almost causing the Doctor and the Hatter to hit their heads into each other in her excitement.

"Yeah?" the Doctor grinned, laughing as the Hatter joined in, forgetting for a moment about her concern with the street being empty, "Come on then, let's have a look," he grabbed the Hatter's hand and led them across the street to were a newsagent's booth was, an old man with a slight beard sat, bundled up in thick coats sat behind it, "Hello there! Sorry, uh, obvious question, but where's everybody gone?"

"Oh ho, scared!" the man told them.

"Right, yes," the Doctor nodded, slowly frowning as he glanced at the Hatter, "Scared of what?"

"Where have you been living?" the man gave them looks, "London at Christmas? Not safe, is it?"

"Why?" the Hatter frowned, titling her head to the side.

"Well, it's them, up above," the man shook his head, pointing toward the night sky, "Look, Christmas before last we had that big bloody spaceship, everyone standing on a roof," he nodded to a small television set beside him, showing different clips from the past few years on the news report, "And then last year, that Christmas Star electrocuting all over the place, draining the Thames".

"This place is amazing," Astrid breathed as the Hatter shivered, remembering that trip with the Racnoss and almost being eaten alive. At least the night ended on a happier note with the Doctor giving her old pendent.

"And this year," the old man continued, shaking his head, "Lord knows what. So everybody's scarpered, gone to the country. All except me…and Her Majesty," he stood proudly and looked at the small TV.

"Her Majesty the Queen has confirmed that she will be staying in Buckingham Palace throughout the festive season to show the people of London, and the world, that there's nothing to fear," a male news reporter announced as they looked at it.

"God bless her!" the man said proudly, saluting the screen, "We stand vigil".

"Well, between you and me," the Doctor nodded, "I think Her Majesty's got it right," the Hatter face palmed, seeing were this was going, "Far as I know, this year, nothing to worry about…"

Suddenly, before he could finish, they were teleported away and back to the ship.

"I was in mid-sentence!" the Doctor grumbled at Mr Copper, clearly feeling quite annoyed at be interrupted.

"When aren't you in mid-sentence?" the Hatter asked playfully, nudging his side as he pouted.

"Yes, I'm sorry about that," Mr Copper apologised, explaining, "A bit of a problem. If I could have your bracelets…"

"Apologies, ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta," the chief steward said, appearing in front of them as the group began handing there bracelets back to Mr Copper, the Hatter discreetly pulled Astrid behind her and the Doctor before anyone could see her, knowing how much trouble it would course, "We seem to have suffered a slight power fluctuation. If you'd like to return to the festivities. And on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruise Liners, free drinks will be provided".

The man walked away as Astrid stepped around the two Time Lords, grinning, "That was the best, the best!" she quickly handed them her bracelet before hurrying away and back to work.

The Doctor and the Hatter smiled after her, shaking their heads as they approached the chief steward, handing the bracelets to them as the Doctor asked, "What sort of power fluctuation?"

"Not to worry, Sir, Ma'am," the man gave them a tense smile, "Enjoy your evening," he nodded to them before turning and walking away.

The Doctor sighed, if only people would say what was really happening, maybe, just maybe he would be able to stop it before anyone got hurt…or worse. He shook his head and looked at the Hatter who was smiling as she watched everything going on around them.

Foon and Morvin as they tucked into more food a couple of tables away, the chief steward who was eyeing the Hosts wearily, the rude slicked back hair man who was playing roulette, and going by his grin, winning. Bannakaffalatta who was dancing around on the dance floor, and Astrid who was smiling over at them while she severed drinks, the band continuing to play in the background.

"Care to dance?" the Doctor asked, holding out his hand for the Hatter to take as she glanced at him.

"Shouldn't we be working out why the steward seems so nervous about those angels?" the Hatter asked, titling her head as she raised her eyebrows at him, "Because I for one know that whenever you wear that suit, something always happens. It's like it's cursed of something, if I believed is curses that is".

"And what happened to you never wearing heels again?" he asked, giving her a look, "I thought you called them 'death traps' and complained the entire time about how much you hated them".

"New me, new rules," she shrugged, looking down at her shoes, "Besides, I think they're starting to grow on me. Maybe I should think about wearing a pair of boots with a small heel on them, small enough that I can run but big enough to know that I'm wearing them," she looked thoughtful, slowly nodding, "Yes, I like the sound of that".

The Doctor shook his head, looking at her, amused, "Is that a yes for dancing or…"

"Doctor," the Time Lady sighed, "I would love to but we have to find out was going on, we've wasted enough time. The sooner we find out, the sooner we can have some time together," she gave him a small smile, leaning up to whisper in his ear, "After all, we do have a lot to catch up on after an entire year apart".

The Doctor shivered and swallowed hard as his mind raced with idea's, most of which he knew wouldn't happen for a while yet but they were still nice to fantasy about. Again. The Hatter looked at him and hid her smirk, having a good idea what was going through his head, not that she was really ready for anything like that, not for a little while at least but it was nice to tease the Doctor, something that she had always gone out of her way to try and do.

She continued to smirk; shaking her head as she grabbed his hand and pulled him over to a screen set into a gold frame were a video of Max Capricorn was playing on a loop, "…and I should know because my name is Max," the Hatter rolled her eyes at the screen as the Doctor slipped on his glasses, pulling out his sonic and flashing it at the frame while she kept an eye out, "The fastest, the furthest, the best…my name is Max".

The video faded as the Doctor changed the settings on his sonic until the screen switched to show the ship's inner computer from the bridge. The Doctor and the Hatter looked at each other, eyes widening as they realised that the ship's shields were offline.

"Oh dear," the Hatter breathed, quickly peering around to look outside the window only to see a couple of meteors flying toward them, "I don't believe it," she gasped, looking at the Doctor, fearfully, "The Captain, he's sabotaging the ship!"

The Doctor blinked, staring at her in alarm as he flashed his sonic at a wire, activating the communication device, "Is that the bridge? I need to talk to the Captain. You've got a meteoroid storm coming in…" he glanced at the Hatter.

"West 0 by North 2," she told him, not looking away from the window as she listened.

"West 0 by North 2," the Doctor repented into the comm.

"Who is this?" the Captain demanded.

"Never mind that," the Doctor shook his head, "Your shields are down. Check your scanners, Captain. You've got meteoroids coming in and no shielding!"

"You have no authorization," the Captain replied, sounding quite annoyed, "You will clear the comms. at once".

"Yeah? Just look starboard!"

Two stewards suddenly appeared and grabbed hold of both the Doctor and the Hatter, "Come with me, Sir, Ma'am," the chief steward said, leading them out of the room and through the reception, despite their protest.

"Just listen to us!" the Hatter tried, struggling to get out of their grip, "You have a rock storming heading straight toward us and the shields are down!"

Up ahead, the Doctor managed to twist out of the two stewards holding him and run up to the stage, shouting to everyone, "Everyone, listen to me! This is an emergency! Get to the lifeb…" one of the robot angels covered his mouth from behind, allowing the steward to grab hold of him again while the entire room stared at him, forcibly dragging them out of the room.

"Please, everyone just look out the windows!" the Hatter shouted desperately as she dragged from the room, looking over her shoulder she caught sight of Astrid, Foon, Morvin, and Bannakaffalatta hurrying after them, "If you don't believe us, then check the shields yourself!"

"Sir, I can vouch for them!" Astrid called, catching up with them as they were dragged down a hall, leaving people to stare after them, compliantly confused.

"Look, Steward, they've just had a bit too much to drink," Morvin tried, hurrying after them with his wife just behind him.

"Sir," Mr Copper called after them as they past, following after them, "Something seems to have gone wrong. All the teleports are down".

"Not now!" the chief steward shouted at Mr Copper, pulling the two Time Lords down a maintenance corridor while the others continued to follow after them, still trying to reason with the stewards.

"The shields are down," the Doctor tried again, trying to look over his shoulder to see the Hatter, hating the thought of her being accidently hurt when this was supposed to be a fun trip, "We are going to be hit".

Yet again, he was ignored as everyone began talking at once when a voice suddenly cut them all off, "Oi!" they turned around to see the man with his hair slicked back walking after them, "Steward! I'm telling you the shields are down!"

"Listen to him!" the Doctor and the Hatter pleaded, "Listen to him!"

A moment later the meteoroids hit the ship, sending them all to the floor. The Doctor grabbed hold of the Hatter, using his body to protect her from harm as soon as he was free from the stewards. They all stayed huddled on the floor for a few minutes until things slowly calmed down.

The Doctor quickly stood, gently pulling the Hatter up with him as she quickly smoothed down her dress, "Shh," he shushed them, listening carefully, "It's stopping".

The Hatter winced as she rubbed her arm, glancing at it to see a large gash on it from where she had been cut by a piece of metal. The Doctor looked around, helping Astrid to stand before he looked over and noticed her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, hurrying over to her and grabbing hold of her arm as soon as he saw it.

"I'm fine," the Hatter shook her head, pulling her arm away as she held it up. Slowly, a golden glow surrounded the gash before it disappearing, not leaving a trace of it ever being there, aside from a bit of blood on her dress, "See? All better," she smiled up at him, "I'm still in my regeneration cycle".

"Never do that again," the Doctor sighed in relief, kissing her before turning back to the others, looking at all the destruction around them, "Bad name for a ship," he remarked, "Either that or this suit is really unlucky".

"I told you it was cursed," the Hatter commented, walking away from him and kneeling beside one of the stewards and checking his pulse. She waited a moment, sighing sadly as she looked back up and shook her head, confirming that he was dead.

"My name…is Max," one of the video terminals continued to say in the background, still on its loop, "My name…is Max. My name…is Max…"

"Ev…everyone…" the chief steward said, standing up shakily as the Doctor walked over to the terminal and turned it off, "Ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatts, I must apologise on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruise Liners. We seem to have had a small collision".

The Hatter raised her eyebrows as Morvin said exactly what she had been thinking, "Small?" he cried.

"You know how much I paid for my tickets?" the man with the slicked back hair shouted, glaring at the steward.

"If I could have silence, ladies, gentlemen…" the man tried again, but everyone started talking over him, arguing with each other.

"Enough!" the Hatter shouted loudly over everyone, making them all turn to stare at her, the rude man blinked, looking outraged, "Ladies and gentlemen and…" she trailed off, eyeing Bannakaffalatt, "I'm sorry, do you mind if I call you Fred? It's just that your name is almost longer then my name back in school before I shortened it…"

"No, Bannakaffalatt!"

The Hatter winced slightly at the high pitch tone, "Right, sorry," she shook her head, giving the Doctor a small glare as she noticed his amused look at referencing something he had once said to their old friend, and Time Lady, Romana as she turned back to the steward, "You can continue now".

"Um, thank you," the steward blinked at her, looking back to the group, "Thank you. I…I'm sure Max Capricorn Cruise Liners will be able to reimburse you for any inconvenience. But first I would point out that we are very much alive".

"Are you alright?" Astrid asked as she noticed Mr Copper was still sitting on the floor, holding his handkerchief to a cut on his head. She walked over to him and kneeled beside him as the Doctor and the Hatter walked over, the Hatter gently examining the injury.

"She is, after all, a fine, sturdy ship," the steward continued talking, "If you could all stay here while I ascertain the exact nature of the…the situation," he turned and began opening the hatch.

"No, don't open it!" the Doctor and the Hatter shouted in unison, jumping up.

But it was too late, the hatch flew open and the steward was pulled out into space before he really knew what had happened. Everyone grabbed hold of something, mainly a piece of piping along the side of the wall to secure them from being sucked out to. The Doctor managed to make his way toward the comms., pulling out his sonic and reactivated the oxygen shields. Immediately the hatch sealed.

"Oxygen shield stabilized," the computer announced over head.

The Doctor quickly ran over to the Hatter, checking her over before helping her to stand from where she had fallen on the floor when the shield was reactivated, "Are you alright?" he asked her, looking concerned.

"All good," she nodded, breathing deeply before frowning as she touched the back of her head to find that her bun had fallen out, somehow she had managed to keep her hat on, "Should have known that would happen," she shrugged and looked around at everyone, "Is everyone alright? No one hurt?"

"Astrid?" the Doctor turned to her, not taking his hands away from the Hatter's.

"Yeah," she panted, holding a hand to her throat.

"Foon?" he turned to the others, "Morvin? Mr Copper? Bannakalatta?"

"I still think Fred would be easier," the Hatter muttered to herself so no one but the Doctor and her could hear.

"Yes," Bannakalatta said as the others nodded.

"You," the Doctor said, nodding to the slicked back hair man, "What was your name?"

"Ah, Rickston Slade," the man told them.

"Are you alright?" the Hatter asked him.

"No thanks to that idiot".

"Mr Slade," the Hatter said in a cold voice at the same time that Astrid gasped, looking appealed, "The steward just died!"

"Then he's a dead idiot," Rickson shrugged.

Astrid gasped again as the Hatter moved forward, fully intending to give him a piece of her mind but was held back by the Doctor, "Alright, calm down," he called to the group, casting the Hatter a slightly concerned look, this new body of hers seemed to have a shorter temper then the last, "Just stay still, all of you. Hold on," he grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the open hatch, looking out as Astrid join them.

"What happened?" Astrid asked them, "How come the shields were down?"

"I don't think it was an accident," the Doctor sighed.

Astrid frowned and followed were they were looking, gasping as she looked out into space to see the dead bodies of guests and stuff members, pieces of the ship floating among them, "How many dead?"

"We're alive, try to focus on that," the Hatter said gently, turning to look at her as she placed a hand on her shoulder, sensing how upset the young women was, "I know it may sound cold, but when this is over, everyone on the board this ship will be remembered. I will personally see to that".

"We will get you out of here, Astrid," the Doctor nodded, putting one of his hands on her other shoulder, "We promise. Look at me. I promise," Astrid looked at them both, nodding, "Good. Now…" he began looking around, "If we can get to reception, we've got a spaceship tucked away. We can get on board…"

"Um, Doctor?" the Hatter cut in, grabbing his arm and tugging him back over to the hatch, pointing out.

"Oh," he blinked, his mouth dropping as he realised what she was trying to show him.

"What is it?" Astrid asked, looking out but unable to see what was wrong, "What's wrong?"

"That's our spaceship," the Doctor nodded, pointing.

"_His_ spaceship," the Hatter corrected.

Astrid shook her head, looking confused, "Where?"

"There, that box," he nodded again, watching sadly as the TARDIS floated into view, moving toward the Earth, "That little blue box".

"_That's_ a spaceship?"

"Oh dear," the Hatter hid her smile.

"Oi, don't knock it!" the Doctor exclaimed, shooting her a look.

Astrid didn't take any notice of him, "It's a bit small".

"A bit distant," the Doctor replied, frowning, "Trouble is, once it's set adrift, it's programmed to lock onto the nearest center of gravity and that would be…"

"The Earth," the Hatter finished, watching as the TARDIS flew closer to the Earth. They stood by and continued watching before the Hatter shook her head, turning around and walking over to the comms. device, pulling out a couple of wires, flashing the sonic that she had stolen from the Doctor at them.

"Hey, when did get that?" the Doctor asked, patting down his suit.

"I have my ways, sweetheart," the Hatter replied, sending him a small wink as she finished connecting a wire, standing up and pressing a button, "Deck 22 to the bridge," she called into the comm., "Deck 22 to the bridge. Is there anyone there? Hello?"

There was no reply for a moment, just static before a voice replied, "This is the bridge".

"Oh hello, sailor," the Doctor sighed in relief, stepping forward to stand beside the Hatter, "Good to hear you. What's the situation up there?"

"We've got air," the voice, a young man, told them, "The oxygen field is holding. But the captain….he's dead. He did it…" his voice trailed off, breaking, "I watched while he took down the shields. There was nothing I could do. I tried. I did try".

"We know, everything is going to be alright," the Hatter told him gently, "Just take a couple of deep breaths," she paused for a moment, listening, "Good, now, no one blames you for anything that's happened. Not at all. Remember that. Now, what's your name?"

"Midshipman Frame".

"Lovely to meet you, Midshipman Frame," the Hatter smiled, "I'm the Hatter, just the Hatter. Can you tell myself and my friend's, what is the state of the engines?"

"They're um…hold on…" there was the sound of him groaning loudly, clearly in pain.

"Have you been injured?" the Hatter asked, exchanging concerned looks with the Doctor.

"I'm alright," Frame told them, "Oh my Vot. They're cycling down".

"That's a nuclear storm drive, yes?" the Doctor said.

"Yeah".

"Oh dear," the Hatter gasped, her eyes widening in horror, "The moment they're gone, we lose orbit".

"The planet".

"Oh yes," the Doctor nodded, running a hand through his hair, "If we hit the planet, the nuclear storm explodes and wipes out life on Earth".

"Not if we have anything to do with it," the Hatter cut in, confidently, "Midshipman, listen carefully. I need you to fire up the engine containment field and feed it back into the core".

"This is never going to work," Frame told them.

"Your right," the Hatter agreed, "But it _will_ work long enough for the Doctor and I to get to the bridge. Good luck," she pressed a button, turning off the comm., turning around to face the others.

"We're going to die!" Foon cried.

"Are you saying that someone's done this one purpose?" Mr Copper questioned them as everyone began panicking again.

"We're just a cruise ship!" Astrid shouted, terrified.

"Okay, okay," the Doctor called to them, stepping forward with his hands up to try and silence, "Tch, tch. First things first. One: we're going to climb through this ship. B…"

"I think you mean two," the Hatter told him quietly.

"Yes, two," the Doctor gave her a smile, turning back to the group, "We're going to reach the bridge. Three or C: we're going to save the _Titanic_. And, coming in a very low Four or D or that little 'IV' in brackets they use in footnotes: why? Right then, follow me…or us".

"Hang on a minute," Rickson called, making the two Time Lords turn back to the group, "Who put you in charge and who the hell are you anyway?"

"I'm the Doctor," he told them very seriously, "I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborus. I'm 903 years old and I'm the man who's gonna save your lives and all six billion of the people on the planet below".

"Yeah," the Hatter nodded, staring at the Doctor, slightly dazed, "What he said, only add Time Lady and 902. It's my birthday next month".

The Doctor sent her a wide smile, quickly turning serious again as he turned back to the group, "You got a problem with that?" he demanded.

"No," Rickston blinked at them both, almost gaping.

"In that case, Allons-y!" the Doctor grinned, grabbing the Hatter's hand again and setting off down the hall, leaving the rest of the group to follow.

_**So, what did you think? I wonder, will the Hatter be forced to break her number one rule? What about the Doctor, why is he being slapped? And who by? And the Hatter's sweet tooth makes an appearance. I have a link on my profile for what the Hatter is wearing. I hope you liked it, please review :)**_


	2. Chapter 2 Voyage of the damned part 2

_**Voyaged of the damned, part 2.**_

The Doctor and the Hatter both used their weight to attempt to move a heavy metal door, slowly managing to move it to reveal a stairwell on the other side, the only trouble was that it was littered with bits of debris and broken cables that were still sparking all over the place.

"Careful," the Doctor called to the others as they began making their way into the room, "Follow us".

The two Time Lords moved further into the room as they began clearing a path, Astrid, Mr Copper, Bannnakaffalatta, Rickston, and the Van Hoffs following.

"Rather ironic when this is very much in the spirit of Christmas," Mr Copper remarked as they continued trying to clear a path upstairs, "It's a festival of violence. They say that human beings only survive depending on whether they've been good or bad. It's barbaric".

The Hatter frowned, glancing over her shoulder to look at the older man, "That's not quite true," she shook her head as the Doctor began tossing things out of his way, "Not at all, Mr Copper. Christmas is a time of peace, family, and love…"

"What Christmas have you been to?" the Doctor asked, giving her a grin as he continued moving things out of his way, "Christmas is always like this…" he laughed as the Hatter shook her head at him, he continued smiling but lost it as he turned back to the path he was in the middle of clearing, only to find that he had uncovered a dormant robot, partly crushed, "We've got a Host. Strength of ten. If we can mend it, we can use it to fix the rubble".

"We can do robotics," Morvin told them from the back of the group, nodding to his wife, "Both of us".

"We worked on the milk market back on Sto," Foon explained, nodding, "It's all robot staff".

The Doctor looked at the turned to the Hatter who shrugged, "It's been a while since I worked on a robot," she said, "No doubt they would be able to work on it far faster than I could right now".

The Doctor nodded, looking back to the Van Hoffs, "See if you can get it working," he turned back to the Hatter and Astrid, "Let's have a look".

Everyone but Foon and Morvin climb up the stairs, only to find that the path was blocked by more wreckage at the very top.

"It's blocked," Astrid frowned, trying to look through to the other side.

"So what do we do?" the Doctor looked at both girls.

The Hatter gave him a bright smile, "We shift it, of course".

"That's the attitude," the Doctor grinned, kissing her cheek as he looked back to the others, "Rickston, Mr Copper, and you, Bannakaffalatta…look, can I just call you Banna? It's gonna save a lot of time, like the Hatter said".

"No!" the red spiked alien glared at him, "Bannakaffalatta!"

"Alright then, Bannakaffalatte," the Doctor nodded, trying to ignore the look the Hatter was giving him, "There's a gap in the middle. See if you can get through".

"Easy," he nodded, "Good".

They stood back and watched as he managed to squeeze his way through the tight space and began making his way through to the over side just as the ship lurched, sending loose debris falling around them.

"The whole thing could come crashing down any minute!" Richston shouted from behind them.

"Oh, Richston, I forgot," the Doctor said, looking at him, "Did you get our message?"

"No," Rickston frowned at them, "What massage?"

"Shut up!" the Doctor and the Hatter shouted in unison.

"Bannakaffalatta made it," he called to them from the other side.

"I'm small enough," Astrid said, moving to crawl through to the other side, "I can get through".

"Careful," the Doctor and the Hatter warned her.

"I'm fine".

"Thing is, how are Mr and Mrs Fatso gonna get through this gap?" Rickston wondered, smirking cruelly.

"Mr Rickston," the Hatter turned around and glared at him, "Do shut up and at least try to be helpful, would you? Just because Foon and Morvin are not like you, does not make them any less important. What's inside is the thing that counts, not the outside," she gave him another cold look, "Now, we are going to make this gap bigger," she picked up a piece of metal and shoved it into his hands, "So start or I will be very, very unhappy with you".

"Nice one," the Doctor whispered quietly to her, grinning as he noticed the almost frightened look on Rickstons face.

"I'm not quite finished yet," she smiled, raising her voice to normal level as she shouted down below them to Foon and Morvin, "Don't listen to a word he said, you two. Your both brilliant in my books".

"She's right," they heard Morvin agree, talking to Foon, "Don't listen to him!"

They continued shifting through more of wreckage as the sound of the Van Hoffs laughter drifted up to them.

"What happened?" Rickston asked sarcastically, "Did they find a doughnut?"

"That's it!" the Hatter said loudly, "If I stay on this side any longer then I'm going to end up doing something I'll later regret," she cast Rickston a dark look, "Or maybe I won't. Either way, Astrid could do with more help so I'm going through. Any arguments? Nope, I didn't think so".

The Hatter moved and began making her way toward the gape but the Doctor grabbed her arm, "Just be careful," he told her, kissing her forehead as she nodded.

"Always, sweetheart," she smiled, turning back and managing to squeeze her way through the gap and over to the other side, making sure to keep an eye out should anything begin to shift. It made her very grateful that her dress wasn't floor length, being forced to crawl on her hands and knees, "Alright. I made it," she called back to the side.

"Good," the Doctor called back, "See if you can shift some of it from that side".

"Okay," the Time Lady agreed, "Just tell us if it starts moving," she frowned as she noticed that she couldn't see Astrid, "Hello? Astrid?"

"Over here," Astrid said, waving her over from where she was kneeling beside Bannakaffalatta who was lying on the floor, "What's wrong?" she asked, focusing back on him as the Hatter hurried over to them.

"Shh," he put a finger to his lips.

"What is it?" the Hatter asked gently, kneeling beside him as she looked concerned.

"Can't say," he shook his head.

"Are you hurt?" Astrid asked, moving to check him.

"Ashamed," he replied.

Both women frowned, looking confused, "Of what?"

"Poor Bannakaffalatta…" he sighed, lifting his shirt to show them a cybernetic unit.

"You're a cyborg," the Hatter gasped, hitting herself on her forehead for not realising sooner, "Of course! My stupid regenerations made my brain all slow; I should have seen this from the very beginning".

"Had accident long ago," he nodded, "Secret".

"No, but everything's changed now," Astrid shook her head, giving him a reassuring smile, "Cyborgs are getting equal rights. They passed a law back on Sto. You can even get married".

"Marry you?" he asked hopefully, looking in-between the two.

"I'm afraid that you would have to fight with the Doctor on that one," the Hatter laughed, it would be very amusing to watch the Doctor reaction. She shook her head and cast a look at Astrid, "But I think that Astrid might be free…"

"You can buy me a drink first," Astrid smiled at him, making him chuckle.

"Young love," the Hatter laughed, shaking her head, "Anyway, let's recharge you," she pressed a button on his chest, "There we go. Now, you just stay there for a moment while Astrid and I get back to work, alright?"

"Tell no one," he said, looking at them both.

"I swear," the Hatter nodded, crossing both her hearts.

"Promise," Astrid smiled.

"What's going on up there?" the Doctor called up to them, sounding worried.

"I think Astrid and Bannakaffalatta just got engaged," the Hatter called back, laughing as Astride blushed.

The Doctor's laugh echoed up to them, "Playing match maker again, are we, Hatter?"

"A Time Ladies got to do something to pass the time," she called back, still laughing as she and Astrid went back to trying to clear a path.

"Almost done!" Morvin called a moment later, his voice carrying up to the girls.

"Good, good, good," the Doctor nodded, rushing over to the comm. as it began to crackle, "Mr Frame, how's things?"

"Doctor," Frame replied, panting, "I've got life signs all over the ship but they're going out one by one".

"What is it? Are they losing air?"

"No. One of them said it's the Host. It's something to do with the Host".

The Doctor's eyes winded as Morvin shouted up to them, sounding delighted as he and his wife managed to fix the Host, "Its working!"

"Kill," the Host said, grabbing hold of Morvin's throat, "Kill. Kill".

"Turn it off!" the Doctor shouted, running down the stairs toward them.

"Doctor!" the Hatter shouted through the gap, looking alarmed, "What's happening? Doctor!"

"I can't, Doctor!" Foon cried, trying to pull cables out of the Host's uncovered head.

The Doctor jumped down the last step, pulling out his sonic as he gestured with his head for Foon to go upstairs, "Go!" he ordered.

"Doctor!" the Hatter shouted again, forgetting about trying to clear a path as she tried to look down, terrified something might happen to him, "Would someone please explain what is going on?"

Foon backed away from the Host, running upstairs as the Doctor aimed his sonic at it, "Lock! Double locked!" he shoved his sonic back inside his pocket as he tried to use his hands to pull Morvin free, "Okay, go upstairs!" managing to free him.

"Run, darling, run!" Foon shouted, grabbing her husbands as they began running upstairs.

"Information: kill, kill, kill…" the Host repented, turning on the Doctor now as he back away upstairs.

"Foon!" Morvin called, rushing up the stairs, "Foon!"

"Rickston!" the Doctor shouted up to him, "Get them through!"

"No chance!" he called back, throwing himself through the narrow opening himself, pushing Astrid and the Hatter out of his way on the other side.

"How dare you just leave them!" the Hatter shouted at him, furies, "They need your help and what do you do? Save your own life! How much more selfish can you possibly get?"

"Rickston!" Mr Copper called to him, disgusted as Foon reached him.

"I'll never get through there," she gasped, eyeing the opening.

"Yes, you can," the Hatter called to her, not taking her eyes off Rickston, "Just trust in yourself, Foon".

"Let me go first," Mr Copper said, quickly pushing himself through the gape, trying to make it bigger as the Hatter and Astrid worked on their side.

The Doctor swiftly dodged out of the way of being hit by the Host's hands, scrabbling up the stairs as he reached the comm., "It's the Host!" he called into it, talking fast, "They've gone berserk! Are you safe up there?"

There was not reply, he looked over his shoulder to see the Host approaching and quickly ran for the gap.

"No, I'm stuck!" Foon shouted as she tried to push her way through, Astrid, the Hatter, and Mr Copper all pulling her arms to try and free her.

"Come on, you can do it!" Astrid tried, throwing her weight into pulling.

"Don't give up, Foon!" the Hatter encouraged, scrunching up her face as she tried to pull as hard as she could without the risk of seriously hurting Foon.

The tunnel began to shift and Mr Copper grabbed hold of a piece of metal pole as it began to move, using it to try and hold the entire space open, "It's going to collapse!" he shouted as the Hatter's eyes winded. She let go of Foon and quickly grabbed hold of the pole, seeing Mr Copper struggling with the force as Foon had enough room to get through, "Riskston, Vot damn it, help us!"

"No…way…" Rickston shook his head, standing as far back from everything as much as he could.

"Morvin, get through!" the Doctor shouted, running up to him as he tried to squeeze through the gap, struggling a lot more than Foon.

"Kill," the Host continued repenting, following after the Doctor, "Kill. Kill".

"Doctor, he's stuck!" Astrid shouted to him, trying to pull Morvin through.

"Mr Van Hoff, I know we've only just met but you'll have to excuse me," the Doctor said, grabbing Morvin's rear and pushing him, managing to push him free.

"That's it," Astrid nodded, helping Morvin to stand as he reached the other side, "We've got you".

"Doctor, hurry up!" the Hatter called to him, struggling to hold the tunnel up with the help of Mr Copper, "Come on, get through!"

"Information override!" the Doctor shouted the first thing that came into his head, backing away from the Host as he approached the tunnel entrance, "You will tell me the point of origin of your command structure!"

"We can't hold it!" Mr Copper called, straining with the force.

"Information: Deck 31," the Host replied.

"Thank you," the Doctor nodded, turning and scrambling through the tunnel and quickly standing, waiting for the right time before shouting at Mr Copper and the Hatter, "Let go!"

Mr Copper and the Hatter let go of the pole, jumping back as the entire tunnel collapsed on top of the Host, crushing its head into pieces.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the Hatter turned to the Doctor. She grabbed hold of his jacket and kissed him passionately before stepping back and slapping him, "Never scare me like that again," she told him sternly as he gaped at her.

"What…what did I do?" he blinked, rubbing his stinging cheek as the others around them began moving away.

"You scared me half to death, that's what," the Hatter replied, sighing slightly as she gently moved his hand away from his red cheek, wincing as she looked at the hand print, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you so hard. I'm afraid that my still on a bit of an emotional roller coaster".

"It's fine," The Doctor shook his head, giving her a concerned look, "How are you feeling anyway?"

She paused for a moment, thinking, "Well, I feel alright, I suppose".

"What does that mean?" he frowned.

"It means that I'm not sure yet," the Hatter shrugged, "I'm surprised that I haven't had any real after effects. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing, though".

The Doctor frowned, staring at her for a moment before he shook his head and taking her hand, quickly leading her after the others as they disappeared through the neatest door, only to find themselves in a kitchen.

"Morvin, look, food!' Foon grinned, catching sight of a table still covered in food plates of food.

"Oh great," Rickston rolled his eyes, "Someone's happy".

"Don't have any then," Morvin glared at him, moving toward the table.

"You tell him, Morvin," the Hatter sent him a small smile, following after the Doctor as he walked over to the comms.

"Mr Frame, you still there?" the Doctor called over the comm.

"Yes, Sir," Frame replied a moment later, "But I've got Host outside. I sealed the door".

"They've been programmed to kill," the Doctor told him, the Hatter frowned, "Why would anyone do that?"

"That's not the only problem, Doctor," Frame sighed, "I had to use maximum deadlock on the door, which means…no one can get in. I'm sealed off. Even if you can fix the _Titanic_, you can't get to the bridge".

"Okay, right," the Hatter nodded, exchanging looks with the Doctor, "Let's just focus on one problem at a time. Can you tell us what Deck 31 is?"

"Um, that's down below," Frame told them, bring up a schematic of the ship for them to see, "It's nothing. It's just the Host storage deck. That's where we keep the robots".

The Doctor frowned, pulling out his glasses as he slipped them on to have a better look, "Well, what's that?" he asked, pointing at a black rectangle panel on the screen, "See that panel? Black. It's registering nothing. No power, no heat, no light".

"Never seen it before".

"It's 100 percent shielded," the Hatter frowned, looking closer at the screen, "Now that's odd. What's down there?"

"I'll try intensifying the scanner," Frame said.

"Let us know if you find anything," the Doctor told him, taking off his specs before adding, "And keep those engines going!"

"Saved you some," Astrid smiled, hurrying over to them with a plate of food, "You might be a Time King and Queen from Gaddabee but you need to eat".

The Hatter laughed, giving her a smile as she took the offered plate and sat down with the Doctor, "Thank you," she said, "Oh, and it's Time Lord and Lady".

"So…" Astrid began after a moment, "You two look good for 903 and 902, wasn't it?"

"Yep," the Hatter nodded, popping a piece of food into her mouth, "But you should see him in the mourning's".

"Okay," Astrid said before she could stop herself, staring at the Doctor. The Doctor's head snapped up to look at her, casting a quick look at the Hatter who merely shrugged, not looking overly concerned. What was the point of being jealous when she knew perfectly well how the Doctor felt about her? Besides, she had already witness for herself what jealousy could do to a person, how it could destroy friendships.

"Doctor, Hatter, it must be well past midnight, Earth time," Mr Copper remarked, walking over to them, "Christmas Day".

"So it is," the Doctor nodded, tacking the Hatter's hand and rubbing his thumb along her pale knuckles, "Merry Christmas".

"Merry Christmas to all," the Hatter added, smiling at Astrid and Mr Copper.

"This Christmas thing," Astrid frowned, looking at the Time Lords, "What's it all about?"

"Long story," the Doctor nodded, putting his arm around the Hatter, "We should know, we were there. We got the last room".

"And might I say that not everything that they say really happen that night," the Hatter added.

"But if the planet's waking up, can't we signal them?" Mr Copper asked them, "They can send up a rocket or something".

"They don't have spaceships," the Doctor and the Hatter explained to him.

"No, I read about it," Mr Copper shook his head at them, "They have shuffles, space shuffles".

The Doctor and the Hatter looked at each other, turning back to the other man, "Mr Copper," the Doctor began, hesitating for a moment before going on, "This degree in Earthonomics…where's it from?"

"Honestly?" he asked, pausing for a moment.

"Just between us," the Hatter nodded, gesturing to herself, the Doctor, and Astrid.

"Mrs Golightly's Happy Travelling University and Dry Cleaners," he admitted to them, mopping his brow with his hankie, sitting down beside them.

"You…you lied to the company…to get the job?" Astrid gasped, staring at him, shocked.

"I…I wasn't my life on Sto," Mr Copper sighed, "I was a travelling salesman, always on the road and I reached retirement with nothing to show for it. Not even a home. And Earth sounded so exotic".

"Hmm, I suppose it does," the Doctor nodded; exchanging looks with the Hatter, both remembering how fascinated they had been with the idea of Earth as children.

"How come you both know it so well?" Astrid asked them, looking in-between them.

"We were sort of…a few years ago, were sorta made….well, sort of homeless, and, um, there was the Earth," the Doctor said as the Hatter patted his hand, giving him a soft smile.

"Thing is, if we survive this, there will be police and all sorts of investigations," Mr Copper sighed, shaking his head, "Now the minimum penalty for space-age fraud is ten years in jail. I'm an old man. Well, I won't survive ten years".

"You know, Mr Copper…" the Hatter began to say, but she was cut off by banging on the door. The Doctor jumped out of his seat and ran over to the opposite door.

"A Host!" he shouted to the room, gesturing for everyone to follow him, "Move! Come on!"

The pounding on the door continued, creating large dents in the door as they ran from the room, Astrid began screaming, terrified. The Hatter let go of the Doctor's hand and put an arm around the girl, trying to calm her while they ran. As they reached another door, the Doctor flashed his sonic at it and stepped inside to find themselves in the engine room. A makeshift bridge, a fallen strut was across a large pit, above the engines were they could see fire burning at the bottom.

"Is that the only way across?" Rickston asked, eyeing the bridge.

"On the other hand, it is a way across," the Doctor said, sounding optimistic.

"The engines are open," Astrid breathed, looking over the ledge at them, clinging tightly to the Hatter's side.

"Nuclear storm drive," the Hatter remarked, looking down at them, "Be grateful that they are. As soon as they stop, the _Titanic_ falls to Earth".

"But that thing," Morvin nodded to the bridge, "It'll never take our weight".

"You're going last, mate," Riskston remarked, giving both Morvin and Foon looks.

"Please shut up, Rickston," the Hatter sighed, glaring at him before turning back to the Van Hoffs, "Don't worry, its nitrofine metal. It's stronger then than it looks".

"All the same, Rickston's right," Morvin shook his head, moving forward, "Me and Foon should…" he took another step forward, right onto a weak piece of metal close to the edge, and gave way from under him, Morvin screamed, falling towards the engines.

"Morvin!" Foon screamed in horror, trying to reach out for him but the Hatter let go of Astrid, grabbing Foon and pulling her into a hug, trying to hold her back as the others gasped, staring in horror at what they had just witnessed.

"I told you!" Rickston shouted, almost jumping up and down to prove his point, "I told you!"

"Just shut up and have a bit of respect," the Hatter snapped at him, trying her best to help Foon, "Someone just lost their life and all you can do is worry about yourself. Well, why don't you try and comfort his widow?"

Foon fell to her knees, pulling the Hatter with her as the Doctor hurried over to them, "Bring him back!" she cried hysterically, looking pleadingly at the Time Lords, "Can't you bring him back? Bring him back, Doctor, Hatter!"

"I'm sorry," the Hatter breathed, beginning to cry herself, "I'm so, so, so sorry, Foon. I understand, please…"

"You promised me!" Foon cried.

The Hatter stiffed, realising that she had. She always kept her promises, always, but now she had broken one, and it broke her hearts. She had only ever broken one promises and that was to protect her children until the day she died, the Time War had seen to that promise being broken and since then, she had sworn never to break another. In her children's memorise, she had sworn.

"I know," the Doctor nodded painfully, seeing the Hatter was unable to speak, knowing how hard she would take this, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry".

"Doctor, Hatter," Mr Copper called to them as the banging of the Host echoed behind them, "I rather think those things have got our scent".

"I'm not waiting," Rickston shook his head, starting to make his way across the bridge.

"Careful!" the Doctor warned him, standing up, "Take it slowly".

There was a loud rumble throughout the ship, jolting it and almost knocking Rickston off the beam, "Vot help me," he muttered to himself.

"You're okay," the Doctor told him, casting a worried look at the Hatter to see her still trying to comfort Foon, "One step at a time. Come on, you can do it".

"Kill," the sound of the Host drew closer, "Kill. Kill".

"They're getting nearer!" Mr Copper called, looking alarmed as he looked behind him.

"Doctor," the Hatter looked over to him, still looking quite shaken, "Seal us in".

The Doctor nodded and pulled out his sonic, flashing it at the door and closing it.

"Leaving us trapped, wouldn't you say?" Mr Copper said, looking in between the Time Lords.

"Never say trapped," the Doctor told him, "Just inconveniently circumstanced".

"Oh," Mr Copper said, nodding.

"I'm okay!" Rickston called as he almost slipped, thinking that they cared as he reached the halfway mark on the bridge.

"Maybe he's alright," Foon said hopefully, looking at Astrid and the Hatter as they hugged her, "Maybe…maybe there's a gravity curve down there or something. I don't know. Maybe he's unconscious".

"I'm sorry, Foon," Astrid shook her head, tears in her eyes as she hugged her tightly, "He's gone".

"What am I going to do without him," Foon sobbed, breaking down again as both girls exchanged worried looks.

"It'll get better," the Hatter tried, rubbing her back, "One day. Give it time, you're strong and you will get through this".

"Yes!" Rickston cheered, delighted as he made it across to the other side, jumping up and down, "Oh yes! Who's good?"

"Bannakaffalatta, you go next," the Doctor nodded to him.

"Bannakalatta, small," he said, hopping onto the beam as he began running across it.

"Slowly!" the Doctor warned him, making him slow and carefully make his way across as the Hosts began pounding on the door.

"They've found us!" Mr Copper gasped, looking behind him, eyeing the door.

"Astrid, get across right now," the Doctor turned to her.

"What about you?" she frowned, walking over to him as the Hatter stayed with Foon.

"Just do it," the Doctor pushed her gently toward the beam, "Go on," she nodded and carefully began making her way across, "Alright, Hatter, you next," he held out his hand for her.

"I can't leave her, Doctor," the Hatter shook her head, looking down at Foon, "I've already broken my promise once, I'm not going to do it again".

"Please," he begged, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward him, "Please, just go across, don't argue".

She frowned, slowly sighing as she nodded, "But only because you asked," she told him, "No other reason," she let go of his hand and began carefully making her way across, glancing every now and then back at Foon, hating herself for leaving her.

"Mr Copper, we can't wait," the Doctor sighed, watching the Hatter go, "Don't argue," he added as Mr Copper followed, "Foon, you've got to get across right now".

"What for?" Foon whimpered, "What am I gonna do without him?"

"Doctor!" Rickston shouted from the other side of the room, "The doors locked!"

"Just think…what would he want, eh?" the Doctor tried.

"He don't want nothing, he's dead!" Foon sobbed as the Doctor pulled her into a hug, the Hatter paused and looked back but Mr Copper gently put a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her forwards.

"Doctor, I can't open the door!' Rickston shouted to him again, "We need the whirring key thing of yours!"

"I can't leave her!" the Doctor shouted at him.

"She'll get us all killed if we can't get out!"

The Doctor sighed, looking at the Hatter and realising how true his words were as he turned back to Foon, wishing he didn't have to do this, "Mrs Van Hoff, I'm coming back for you, alright?" he asked her.

Foon nodded, tears streaming down her face as he stepped onto the beam, coursing it to groan and creak under the weight.

"Too many people!" Bannakaffalatta called back to him.

"Oi!" the Doctor shouted back, "Don't get spiky with me! Keep going!"

"It's gonna fall!" Astrid gasped, looking down at the beam in alarm.

"Don't look down," the Hatter advised her, "And it's not going to fall, it's just settling. Keep going!"

Suddenly, everything became quit; the pounding on the door from the Hosts stopped, the Doctor and the Hatter looked at each other, exchanging worried looks.

"This can't be good," the Hatter muttered to herself, looking around her.

"They've stopped…" Astrid frowned, looking around, confused.

"Gone away?" Bannakaffalatta asked, also looking confused.

"Why would they give up?" the Doctor frowned, saying just what the Hatter had been wondering.

"Something's very wrong about this," the Hatter agreed.

"Never mind that," Rickston shook his head, "Keep coming!"

"Where have the gone?" the Doctor continued, looking back to the door and back to the Hatter, managing to see her around Mr Copper, "Where are the Host?"

But before she could answer, Mr Copper cut in, "I'm afraid…" he said while looking up, "We forgot the tradition of Christmas…that angels have wings!" they gasped as they looked up to see the Hosts gliding above them, on either side.

"Information: kill," one of them announced, each one of them reaching up for their halos.

The Doctor and the Hatter's eyes winded, "Arm yourselves!" they both shouted to everyone, "All of you!"

Everyone quickly grabbed whatever they could use to defend themselves, bits of metal and pipes as the Host began throwing there halos at them. They all began batting them away, the Hatter smashed one back and managed to hit a Host, cutting its head off, quickly ducking as she was almost hit by another Host. One halo flew toward the Doctor, managing to graze his arm as he cried out in pain.

"Doctor!" the Hatter shouted, sending another halo flying, "Doctor! Are you alright?"

"I'm good," he winced, still swinging his pipe around, smashing the halos.

"You had better stay that way," she warned him, turning back just as a disk flew toward her. She gasped and threw herself onto her stomach, almost rolling off the side but managing to stop herself.

"Hatter!" the Doctor shouted, seeing what had happened.

"All good!" she called back, climbing back on her feet as Mr Copper cried out in pain from behind her, having been hit on his hip.

Up ahead, Astrid fell to her knees, "I can't!" she cried.

"Bannakaffalatta stop!" he shouted, throwing his weapon to the side, "Bannakaffalatta proud! Bannakaffalatta cyborg!" he lifted up his shirt and discharged energy, making a ring around the room that disabled the robots, coursing them to fall down to the engines, one Host falling onto the strut behind the Doctor.

"Electromagnetic pulse short circuited the Hosts," the Hatter realised, blinking slightly as she hadn't expecting for that to happen.

"Oh, Bannakaffalatta, that was brilliant!" the Doctor grinned at him but he lost his smile as Bannakaffalatta fell backwards, Astrid and the Hatter rushing to his side.

"He's used all his power!" Astrid gasped, kneeling beside him, checking him over.

"Did good?" he asked, looking up at her.

"You save our lives," she breathed.

"Bannakaffalatta happy," he smiled up at her.

"We can recharge you, get you to a power point and just plug you in!" Astrid tried as Mr Copper crawled toward them.

"Too late".

"No, but…you gotta get me that drink, remember?" she asked him, her voice braking as the Hatter stood, she stepped over Mr Copper and walked over to the Doctor, throwing her arms around his neck, burying her face into his chest. She might not have known Astrid and Bannakaffalatta for very long, but she still felt for them.

The Doctor looked down at her, slightly surprised but pleased, all the same. His arms tighten around her and he lent his head on top of hers, not seeming to care in the slightest that his chin was resting on top of her hat.

"Pretty girl," Bannakaffalatta smiled, slowly his eye flickered shut as he died. Astrid struggled to hold back a sob as she moved to button up his shirt; Mr Copper reached forward, reaching for the cybernetic power source.

"I'm sorry," Mr Copper apologised, "Forgive me".

"Leave him along!" Astrid glared at him.

"It's the EMP transmitter," Mr Copper explained, "He…he'd want us to use it…" he gently removed it, "I used to sell these things. They'd always give me a bed for the night in the cyborg caravans. They're good people. But if we can recharge it, we can reuse it as a weapon against the rest of the Host. Bannakaffalatta might have saved us all".

"Do you think?" Rickston raised his eyebrows, "Try telling him that," he pointed behind them and they turned to see a Host behind the Doctor and the Hatter, standing up.

"Information: reboot".

"Use the EMP!" Rickston shouted.

"It's dead!" Mr Copper shook his head.

"It's gotta have emergency…" Astrid said, trying to take the device.

The Doctor and the Hatter turned, the Doctor stepping in front as the Host advanced upon them, "No, no, no. Hold on. Override loophole security protocol….10! 666! Oh. 21, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Um, I dunno, 42!"

"1!" the Hatter shouted just before the Host could send its halo at the Doctor.

Slowly, the Host stopped and stood passively, "Information: state request".

"Good…" the Doctor sighed in relief, sending a grateful look at the Hatter, turning back to the Host, "Right. You've been ordered to kill the survivors, but why?"

"Information: no witnesses".

"But this ship's gonna fall on the Earth and kill everyone," the Doctor frowned, "The human race have nothing to do with the_ Titanic_ so that contravenes your orders, yes?"

"Information: incorrect".

The Hatter frowned, looking around the Doctor, "But why do you want to destroy the Earth?"

"Information: it is the plan".

"What plan?" the Doctor asked.

"Information: protocol grants you only three questions. These three questions have been used".

"Well, you could have warned us," the Doctor and the Hatter grumbled, exchanging looks.

"Information: now you will die," the Host replied, preparing to strike them again when a lasso was thrown over its head from behind and tightened by Foon.

"You're coming with me," she almost growled, giving the Doctor and the Hatter a quick nod before closing her eyes and jumping off the side of the beam, pulling the Host with her.

"Foon!" the Hatter shouted, leaping forward, only for the Doctor to grab her around her waist, pulling her against his chest, "No! I promised!"

The Doctor swallowed hard, pulling the Hatter closer to him as she went limp, realising that there was nothing she could do as Foon fell, he turned her around to face him, "No more," he shook his head, pressing his forehead against, "No more," he promised, grabbing the Hatter's hand and pulling her along as the rest of the group climbed to the other end.

The Hatter didn't say anything, to upset to talk as the Doctor opened the door with his sonic, leading the group down a maintenance corridor while she hold on tightly to his hand, not wanting to let go.

"Right," the Doctor said, looking around, "Get to Reception One. Once you're there, Mr Copper, you've got staff access to the computer. Try and find a way of transmitting an SOS," he turned to Astrid, giving her the EMP, "Astrid, you're in charge of this. Once it's powered up, it'll take out Hosts within fifty yards but then it needs sixty seconds to recharge. Got it?" he turned to Rickston as she nodded, "Rickston, take this," he gave him his sonic, "I've preset it. Just hold down that button. It'll open doors. Do _not_ lose it! You got that?" Rickston nodded, "Now go and open the next door. Go on! Go!"

"Alright!" Rickston exclaimed, running off down the hall.

The Doctor turned around and grabbed a First Aid Kit, pausing for a moment as he looked in-between Mr Copper and the Hatter, shaking his head and handing it to Mr Copper, "Mr Copper, I need you fighting fit," he turned to Astrid, "Astrid, where's the power point?"

"Under the comms.," Astrid said, leading them over to one.

"When it's ready, that blue light will come on there," the Hatter explained, taking the EMP and holding it to the power point in front of them, the Doctor gave her another concerned look as he noticed that her hands were still shacking.

Astrid frowned at them, "You're talking as if you're not coming with us".

"There's something on Deck 31," the Doctor told her, "We're gonna find out what it is," he shot the Hatter another concerned look, he would much rather she be safe but he also knew that despite how upset she may be, there wasn't a chance that she would let him go on his own.

"What if you meet a Host?" Astrid asked, looking in-between them, concerned.

"Well, then we'll…" he looked at the Hatter who gave him a small smile, turning back to Astrid, "Just…have some fun, eh?"

"Sounds like you do this kind of thing all the time".

"Not by choice," the Doctor sighed, earning a look from the Hatter, "All we do is travel. That's what we are, just travellers. Imagine it. No tax, bills, no boss…well, there's the Hatter…"

"Doctor," the Hatter gave him a stern look, making him grin.

"And I wouldn't have it any other way," he grinned, kissing her cheek as he looked back to Astrid, "Think about it, just the open sky".

"I'm sort of…unemployed now and I was thinking the blue box is kinda small, but I could kinda squeeze in. Like a stowaway".

The Hatter felt herself smiling, thinking about another young woman who had 'stowaway' inside the TARDIS when she and the Doctor weren't looking, someone who ended up being one of their most trusted friends.

"It's not always safe," the Doctor warned her.

"You need someone to take care of you," Astrid said, looking in-between them, "Both of you. I've got no one back on Sto, family, just me. So what do you think? Can I come with you?"

The Doctor looked at the Hatter as she smiled, "I think it's a brilliant idea," she nodded, smiling widely as she turned back to Astrid.

"Yeah, okay," the Doctor grinned, looking at the young women but suddenly the ship lurched and sent everyone crashing to the floor, the Doctor quickly jumped up to the comms., calling into it, "Mr Frame, you still with us?"

"It's the engines, Sir," he replied a moment later, sounding strained, "Final phase. There's nothing more I can do. We've got only eight minutes left!"

"Don't worry," the Doctor told him, "We'll get there".

"The bridge is sealed off!"

"Yeah, yeah, working on it," the Doctor shook his head, "We'll get there, Mr Frame, somehow".

The EMP lit up and the Hatter grabbed it, "All charged up," she remarked, "Excellent," she turned on her heel and ran over to Mr Copper and Rickston, "Mr Copper, do us a favour and look after Astrid for us. Astrid, you look after him".

"Rickston, um…" the Doctor came up behind her, eyeing the man for a moment, "Look after yourself. And we'll see you again, promise".

"Stay safe everyone!" the Hatter called over her shoulder as the Doctor grabbed her hand, dragging her down the corridor with him. They continued running, ending up reaching a small kitchen were they found themselves face to face with four Hosts. Without thinking, the Doctor and the Hatter both grabbed a pot and pan that they might be able to use to defend themselves with.

"Wait, wait, wait!" the Doctor shouted at the Hosts, pushing the Hatter behind him as she rolled her eyes, "Security protocol one! Do you hear me! One! One!" slowly, the Hosts stopped and lowered their hands from where they were reaching for their halos, "Okay, that gives me three questions. Three questions to save our lives, am I right?"

"Information: correct".

"Doctor," the Hatter groaned, shaking her head.

"No, that wasn't one of them," the Doctor shook his head quickly; "I didn't mean it. That's not fair. Can I start again?"

"Information: no".

The Hatter hit his arm, glaring at him as he looked at her, "Are trying to get us killed?" she demanded, "We only have one question left, don't screw it up or I will personally kill you myself!"

"No, you wouldn't," he grinned, quickly losing it as her glare darkened. He swallowed hard and quickly turned back to the Hosts, "One questions left, one question. So, you've been given orders to kill the survivors but survivors must therefore be passages or staff, but not us. We're not passages. We're not staff. Go on, scan us. You must have bio records. No such people on board. We don't exist therefore…you can't kill us. Therefore, we're stowaways and stowaways should be arrested and taken to the nearest of authority. And I reckon the nearest figure of authority is on Deck 31. Final question: am I right?"

"Information: correct".

"Brilliant," the Doctor grinned, "Take us to your leader," he turned to the Hatter, looking delighted, "I've always wanted to say that".

"You're getting a little forgetful, Doctor," the Hatter raised her eyebrows at him, "You have said it once before in your fourth body".

"Hatter," he pouted.

"Sorry, sorry," she held up her hands, rolling her eyes, "Forget I said anything".

The Doctor shook his head, giving her a small smile as they began following after the Hosts, leading them to Deck 31.

….

The Doctor and the Hatter were led by the Hosts to Deck 31, eyeing the room as they saw that the entire room was littered by broken equipment, small fires, and structural damage.

"Now that is what you call a fixer-upper," the Doctor remarked jokingly, earning a small laugh from the Hatter who nodded, looking around, "Come on then, Host with the most, this ultimate authority of yours, who is it?" they both turned quickly as two doors slid open behind them.

"Oh, now that's cheating," the Hatter commented, eyeing the door way, "Cheating and quite clever, just how I like it. An omnistate impact chamber. Indestructible".

"You can survive anything in that, eh?" the Doctor nodded, watching as a small vehicle started wheeling out, "Sit through a supernova or a shipwreck. Only one person can have the power and the money to hide themselves on-board like this and…" the Hatter joined in, both speaking at the same time, "I should know, 'cos…" the vehicle came to a stop, ravelling itself to be a giant life-support system with Max Capricorns head sitting at the top, behind a glass cabinet.

"My name is Max," he finished, grinning at them, his gold tooth glinting.

The Doctor and the Hatter blinked at him, "It _really_ does that?"

"Who the hell are they?" Max demanded, frowning at the Time Lords.

"I'm the Doctor and this is the Hatter," the Doctor introduced, smiling as the Hatter gave Max a cheery wave, "Hello!"

One of the Hosts stepped forward, "Information: stowaways".

"Well…" the Doctor shrugged, still grinning as he glanced at the Hatter.

"Kill them," Max ordered, seeming not to care about them in the slightest.

"Oh, no, no!" the Doctor called, pulling the Hatter behind his back, "Wait, but you can't. Not now. Come on, Max…you've given me so much good material like…how to get ahead in business," he looked around as everyone stared at him, the Hatter sighed and shook her head, "See 'head?' 'Head in business?'" he tried again, looking at the Hatter, "No?"

"Defiantly," the Hatter nodded quickly, making him pout, "And here I thought some of my jokes were bad…"

"Oh, ho, ho, the office joker," Max moved toward them, "I like a funny man. No one's been funny with me for years".

"I can't think why," the Doctor and the Hatter replied dryly, eyeing him.

"176 years of running the company have taken their toll".

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, slowly grinning, "But…nice wheels".

"No, a life-support system in a society that despises cyborgs. I've had to hide away for years. Running the company by hologram. Host, situation report".

"Information: _Titanic_ is still in orbit".

"Let me see," Max frowned, wheeling himself forward, the Hatter quickly pulled the Doctor and herself out of his path, "We should have crashed by now. What's gone wrong?" he wheeled himself until he reached the edge and looked down at the engines, "The engines are still running! They should have stopped!"

"And when they do, the Earth is destroyed," the Hatter sighed, frowning at Max as she titled her head to the side, "But why? What does the Earth have to do with anything…unless…"

Max glared at her, "This interview is terminated," he turned and began wheeling away.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor called, rushing in front of him, making him stop as the Hatter hurried to stand beside him, "Hold on! Hold on! Hold on! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! We can work it out. It's like a task. We're your apprentices. Just watch us. So…business is failing and you wreck the ship so that makes things even worse. Oh yes! No. Yes. The business isn't failing…"

"It's _failed_," the Hatter cut in, nodding as it all began to come together inside her mind, "Past tense, yes?"

"My own board voted me out," Max confirmed there theory, "Stabbed me in the back".

"If you had a back," the Doctor said, "So…you scupper the ship, wipe out any survivors in case anyone's rumbled you and the board find their shares halved in value".

"But that's not enough, is it?" the Hatter added, "Not at all because if a Max Capricorn ship hits the Earth, it destroys the entire planet. Ooh, outrage back at home. Scandal! The business is wiped out".

"And…the whole board thrown in jail for mass murder," Max smirked, wheeling forward.

"While you sit there, safe inside the impact chamber," the Doctor finished.

"I have men waiting to retrieve me from the ruins and enough off-world accounts to retire me to beaches of Pentaxico Two where the ladies, so I'm told, are very fond of…metal," Max smiled, turning to the Hatter and looking her up and down, "But perhaps I should take your…little friend with me, I could use the company while I wait".

The Doctor glared fiercely at him, pushing the Hatter behind him again as she blinked, "She's not going anywhere".

"I'm sorry to say, Max, that I prefer a man I can actually get my hands on," the Hatter poked her head around the Doctor, giving Max a cold look, "And I suggest that if you wish to remain the way you are, you will watch what you say around myself and the Doctor. You haven't seen anger unless you have seen the arguer of a Time Lord".

"So that's the plan," the Doctor spat, furies, "A retirement plan. 2,000 on this ship, million underneath us, all of them slaughter. And why? Because Max Capricorn is a loser".

"I never lose," Max glared at them.

"You can't even sink the _Titanic_," the Doctor and the Hatter argued.

"Oh, but I can, Doctor, Hatter. I can cancel the engines from here".

And right on cue, alarms all around them began blearing.

"You can't do this!" both Time Lords yelled, both lunging forwards to try and stop him as they both stared at him, horrified.

"Host, hold them!" Max ordered, making two hosts come up behind them both and pull their arms behind their backs, holding them tightly as they struggled, "Not so clever now, Doctor, Hatter. A shame we couldn't work together. You're both rather good. All that banter yet not a word wasted. Time for me to retire. The _Titanic_ is falling. The sky will burn. Let the Christmas inferno commence. Oh! Oh, Host! Kill them".

One of the Hosts stepped forward, removing its halo as it prepared to strike the Doctor with it, the Hatter opened her mouth to shout but before she could…

"Mr Capricorn!" someone shouted, making them turn to see Astrid sitting behind the wheel of a forklift, "I resign," she pulled a lever and started it up, rushing toward Max.

"Astrid, don't!" the Doctor and Hatter shouted, trying to lung forward but they were held back by the tight grip on the Hosts, forced to watch as Astrid used to the forklift to lift the front of Max's life-support system just enough, coursing the wheels so squeal and spin as she continued to try and ram him back. One of the Hosts turned and threw its halo at Astrid, only just missing her and hitting a cable, "He's cut the break line!" the Time Lords cried, horrified.

Astrid looked over to them, giving them a small nod, a look of understanding passing between them as she turned back, raising the lift higher and Max off the ground enough for him to loss traction, "No!" the Doctor and the Hatter screamed as Astrid floored the forklift, sending herself and Max over the edge, "Astrid!"

They managed to break free of the Hosts, running toward the edge and kneeling down to watch in horror as Astrid fell toward the engines, holding her arms out to try to reach them.

"No!" the Hatter gasped, holding her shacking hand over her mouth as she began crying, "Astrid…" the Doctor gently pulled her closer to her, rubbing her back as she buried her head into his chest, wrapping her hands around his neck.

"Shh," he whispered into her ear, closing his eyes so he didn't have to see the engines, "I've got you, everything's going to be okay".

"We promised, Doctor," she shook her head, pulling back, if it had been any other time, the Doctor would have laughed as he noticed that the little makeup that she had put on was now running down her face, "And we…I broke it. I promised that I would get her home, along with Foon, Morvin, and Bannakaffalatta".

The Doctor sighed, gently putting his hands on either side of her cheeks and lifting her head, "Don't do this, not now._ I_ made the promise…"

"But _I_ agreed," the Hatter cut in, "Therefore, Doctor, _I_ promised and now _I've_ broken that promise. I _never ever_ do that".

Before he could argue, the ship gave a sharp jolt that almost sent both Time Lords over the edge. They quickly scrabbled to the feet and looked around, "We need to get to the bridge," the Doctor frowned, running a hand through his hair as he scanned the room, turning to the Hatter, "Idea's?"

"Well…" she trailed, sounding like him as she pointed at the Hosts, still standing off to the side, "If I'm correct…"

"Which you usually are," the Doctor cut in, giving her a small smile.

"If I'm correct," the Hatter said, slightly louder as she gave him a look, "They should be programmed to respond to the highest authority on board," she gave him a pointed look, "Which would be you, sweetheart".

"Really?" he blinked.

"It's a 50-50 percent chance that it's either you or I," she shrugged, thinking it over carefully.

"Right," the Doctor nodded, stepping forward he held out his arms at his sides, the Hosts moved forward and took a position by his side, he glanced over his shoulder and gave the Hatter a nod. Eyeing the Hosts, still slightly weary of them, she moved forward and put her arms around his neck, careful to make sure she wouldn't strangle him before she hugged herself to him. The Doctor smiled slightly, putting his arm around her as he lifted his hand, clicking his fingers together. The Hosts grabbed hold of his arms and took off flying up, gaining speed as they held an arm up, crashing straight through the floor in the bridge.

"Deadlock broken," the computer announced as Frame gave a yelp of surprise, turning around to stare at them.

"Ah, Midshipman Frame at last!" the Doctor smiled, climbing out of the wreck that used to be the floor, helping the Hatter up with him.

"Uh, but…but the Host!" Frame gasped, alarmed as he pointed a shaky hand at them.

"Don't worry about them," the Hatter waved his concern off, dusting her dress down, frowning slightly as she noticed a tear on the hemline, "There controller died so they diverted to the next highest authority," she nodded to the Doctor, "Which is him".

"There's nothing we can do," Frame shook his head as they moved to look at the controls; "There's no power. The ship's gonna fall".

As if on cue, "_Titanic_ falling," the computer called.

"That's enough out of you, thank you very much," the Hatter frowned, pointing at the controls as if it could hear her, shaking her head as she went back to flicking switches.

The Doctor gave her an odd look, shrugging as he quickly grabbed the wheel as the ship jolted again, "What's your first name?" he asked, looking over to Frame.

"Alonzo," he replied.

"You're kidding me!" both the Doctor and the Hatter gaped at him, exchanging disbelieving looks.

"What?" Frame asked, looking confused.

"There's something else I've always wanted to say," the Doctor said, slightly breathless before he grinned broadly, "Allons-y Alonzo!" he turned the wheel sharply, almost sending Frame and the Hatter crashing to the floor, "Whoa!"

The Hatter grabbed hold on the control panel in front of her, managing to keep herself standing as the ship lunched dramatically toward the Earth, falling through the Earth's atmosphere. Frame screamed while the Hatter tried her hardest not to accordantly bite her tongue, all the while the Doctor fought to control the wheel.

An alarm sounded and the Hatter hit a button for the computer to show the impact zone to be in London. She groaned and quickly grabbed the comm. link, dialling out, "Ah, Hello, good…could you get me Buckingham Palace?" she waited for a moment to be connected, "No, you listen to me! Security Code 771! Now get out of there!" and with that, she slammed the phone back down and hit a switch.

"Engine active," the computer called, "Engine active".

The Doctor pulled back on the wheel, sending Frame back against the wall as the Hatter grabbed the control panel, watching as they only just flew over Buckingham Palace, soaring over as they headed back toward the stars. The Doctor began laughing, looking over the Hatter as she joined in, feeling relieved that they were finally out of danger.

Frame joined in laughing, ringing the ship's bell, "Whoo-hoo!"

"Whoo-hoo-hoo!" the Doctor and the Hatter shouted gleefully, laughing.

….

"That'll do the trick, Mr Frame," the Hatter gave him a small smile, carefully pulling his shirt back down after she had finished stitching up his wound as he sat on the floor of the bridge, the Doctor and the Hatter kneeling beside him, "You were very lucky. The bullet missed everything of importance and managed to pass straight through. It'll be quite tender for a little while yet, but you'll live. I suggest that when you get out of here, you go and get it checked out again, though. Just in case".

Frame nodded, staring at them, still in shock, "How…how did the two of you do that?"

"Used the heat of re-entry to fire up the secondary storm drive," the Doctor explained, nudging the Hatter's side as he smiled, "Unsinkable, that's us".

"We made it," Frame breathed, leaning his head back against the wall.

"Not all of us," the Hatter sighed, looking down as her smile faded.

"Teleport!" the Doctor suddenly shouted, jumping up as the Hatter's winded, realising what he was getting at, "She was wearing a teleport bracelet!"

The Doctor ran from the room, the Hatter quickly helped Frame to stand before they followed after him, back to the reception were they spotted Rickston and Mr Copper, waiting for them.

"Rickston!" the Doctor called, "Sonic!" Rickston quickly tossed it to him as he ran, "Mr Copper, the teleports, have they got emergency settings?"

"I don't know," Mr Copper shook his head as the Hatter ran over to the Doctor, helping him with the teleport controls, "They should have".

"She fell, Mr Copper," the Hatter told him, smiling as hope sparked inside her, "She fell. Can you tell us the emergency code?"

"Uh, let me see…" Mr Copper said thoughtfully, walking around the computer and began typing in the code.

"What the hell are you doing?" Frame frowned, watching them.

"We can bring her back!" the Doctor grinned, kneeling down in front of the teleport and setting to work as the Hatter kneeled beside him, helping him.

"If a passenger has an accident on shore leave and they're still wearing their teleport," Mr Copper told Frame, "their molecules are automatically suspended and held in stasis so that we can just trigger the shift".

"There!" the Doctor shouted, jumping up and turning around as Astrid appeared a short distance away, glowing, transparent.

"I'm falling…" Astrid said, her voice distant, like an echo.

"Only half way," the Doctor muttered, turning back the teleport and adjusting it as the Hatter could only stand back and watch, "Come on".

"I keep falling…" Astrid called.

"Feed back the molecule grid, boost it with the restoration matrix…" the Doctor continued just as it sparked, "No, no, no, no!"

"You need more phase containment," the Hatter told him gently, seeing how worked up he was getting.

"Doctor…" Mr Copper stepped closer.

"No! if I can link up the surface suspension…"

"Doctor," Mr Copper cut in, casting a look at the Hatter who buried her head in her hands, closing her eyes painfully, "She's gone".

"I just need to override the safety. I can do it".

Mr Copper placed a hand on his shoulder, "Doctor, let her go".

The Doctor looked over to Astrid, standing up and kicking the teleport in frustration, "I can do anything!" he shouted, coursing the Hatter to flinch.

The Hatter took a deep breath and put her hands on the Doctor's shoulder, forcing him to turn and look at her, "Yes you can, my sweetheart," she agreed, speaking calmly despite her hands shacking, "And you did, you did everything thing that you could to save her, but we both know that it's too late," she took another deep breath, swallowing hard as she went on, "The systems to badly damaged, we could spend today and the night trying to fix it, and we would still come no closer to being able to save her. It breaks my hearts to say this, but she's star dust. And now, it's time for her to do the one thing she's always dreamed of, my dear".

The Doctor nodded slowly, knowing that she right as he turned to stand in front of Astrid, swallowing hard as the Hatter stepped beside him, "Astrid Peth…citizen of Sto…the women who looked at the stars and dreamt of travelling," he held up his sonic, aiming it at a small window, opening it, "Now you can travel forever…" he switched it on and Astrid turned into little specs of light, the Hatter closed her eyes and looked away, unable to watch, "You're not falling, Astrid, you're flying".

And with that, Astrid Peth flew outside the window, drifting through space, leaving her friends to watch painfully after her.

….

The Doctor and the Hatter were standing beside each other, holding hands when Frame walked back into reception after he had left to check on everything, "The engines have stabilized," he told them, "We're holding steady till we get help and I've sent the SOS. A rescue ship should be here within twenty minutes. And they're digging out the records of Max Capricorn. It should be quite a story".

"They'll want to talk to all of us, I suppose," Mr Copper sighed, frowning.

"I'd have thought so," Frame nodded, "Yeah".

Mr Copper nodded sadly, making his way over to the Doctor and the Hatter as they leaned against the teleport, staring blankly ahead of them, both lost in thought over the events that had happen, taking comfort in each other.

"I think, uh, one or two inconvenient truths might come to light," Mr Copper commented sadly, "Still, it's my fault," he shook his head, "And then two years in jail is better than dying".

"Doctor, Hatter…" they looked up as Rickston approached them, "I never said…thank you," he reached out and pulled them both into a tight hug while they stood there, not hugging back, "The funny thing is…I said Max Capricorn was falling apart. Just before the crash, I…sold all my shares, transferring them to his rivals. It's made me rich," he grinned at them, "What do you think of that?"

Rickston didn't see it coming until the Hatter's fist hit his face, making him stagger back as everyone turned to stare, "I think that you're a fool," she hissed angrily, glaring at him as the Doctor put his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down, "An arrogant, pathetic, foolish man who only cares about himself. People have died! They've lost their lives right in front of you and all you can think about is money!"

Rickston gaped at her, but before he could reply, his vone rang and he quickly pulled it out of his pocket, hurrying away as he answered it, "Salvain? Those shares, I want them triple-bonded and locked".

"Of all the people to survive, he's not the one you would have chosen, is he?" Mr Copper asked, watching him walk away with a frown, "But if you could choose, if you decide who lives or dies…" he shrugged, "That would make you a monster".

"Well said, Mr Copper," the Hatter nodded, "No one should have that power. No one".

The Doctor nodded his agreement, turning to him, "Mr Copper…" he turned and grabbed three teleport bracelets, holding one up, "I think you deserve one of these," he handed him one of the bracelets, handing another to the Hatter and slipping them on.

Frame looked over to them, frowning for a moment before shaking his head, giving them a salute. The Doctor and the Hatter gave him a small smile, giving him a casual salute back as they disappeared.

…

The Doctor, the Hatter, and Mr Copper found themselves walking across an open field, snow falling all around them as they approached the TARDIS just ahead of them. In the distance, the glittering lights of London could be seen brightly in the night sky.

"So, Great Britain is part of, uh, 'Europee' and just across the British Channel you're got Great France and Great Germany…" Mr Copper said slowly, thinking over what the Time Lords had been telling him about Earth.

"No, no," the Doctor and the Hatter shook their heads, "It's just…it's just France and Germany. Only Britain is Great".

"Oh, and they're all at war with the continent of Ham-erica?"

"No, well…not yet," the Doctor replied, earning a look from the Hatter, "Uh…could argue that one," he smiled as they reached the TARDIS, "There she is," he patted the side of her as the Hatter hugged the doors, "Survive anything".

"Just like someone else I know," the Hatter gave him a pointed look.

"You know, between you and me," Mr Copper remarked, looking around, "I don't even think this snow is real. I think this is the ballast from the _Titanic's_ salvage entering the atmosphere".

The Doctor and the Hatter looked up at the sky, eyeing the snow still falling, "Yeah," the Doctor nodded, "One of these days it might snow for real".

"With any luck," the Hatter added, kicking a bit of snow with her heels that she had somehow managed to keep on throughout the entire night.

"So, I…I suppose you'll be off," Mr Copper said, looking in-between them.

"The open sky," the Doctor nodded.

"And, uh, what about me?"

The Doctor glanced at the Hatter, turning back to the man, "We travel alone. It's best that way".

"What…what am I supposed to do?" Mr Copper asked, looking slightly lost.

"Mr Copper, would you mind giving me that credit card, please?" the Hatter asked, holding out her hand as she had a sudden idea.

"Well, it's just petty cash, spending money," he told them, handing it over to the Hatter, "It's all down by computer. I…I didn't really know the currency so I thought a million might cover it".

The Hatter's mouth dropped, "As in a million? A million pounds?"

"That enough for trinkets?"

"Mr Copper, a million pounds is worth 50 million credits," the Doctor explained to him as the Hatter cracked up laughing.

Mr Copper blinked, staring at them, "How much?"

"50 million and…56," the Hatter calculated inside her head, struggling to hold back a smile.

"I…I've got money?" Mr Copper gasped, staring at them, shocked.

"Yes, you have," the Doctor smiled as the Hatter handed the card back to him.

"Oh my word. Oh my Vot! Oh my goodness me! I…ya ha!"

"It's all yours…planet Earth," the Doctor and the Hatter smiled, gesturing toward the city, "Now _that's_ a retirement plan".

"Just be careful," the Hatter added, giving him a slightly concerned look, "Planet Earth can have its good side and it's bad".

"I will," he nodded, looking delighted, "I will. Oh, I will".

"No interfering," the Doctor warned, pointing a finger at him, "We don't want any trouble. Just…just have a nice life".

"But I can have a house," Mr Copper breathed, "A proper house, with a garden, and…and a door, and…or Doctor, Hatter, I will make you proud," he pulled them both into a tight hug, making them grin broadly, "And…and I can have a kitchen with chairs, and windows, and lace…" he began skipping away, laughing merrily with excitement.

The Doctor turned and began unlocking the TARDIS, frowning as an idea popped into his head, "Um, where are you going?" he called after him.

"Why, I have no idea!"

"No, me neither," the Doctor shook his head, holding out his hand for the Hatter.

"Back in a sec," she told him, quickly kicking her heels off and running after the still skipping man, "Mr Copper, hold on!" he stopped and turned around as she pulled out a card, seemingly from nowhere, "Ah, good, thanks for stopping. Now, before he go running off into the night, take this," she handed him the card, "Tell them that you're a friend of myself and the Doctor. That's very important. Also, ask for a Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, he'll help you out".

"UNIT," Mr Copper nodded slowly, reading the card.

"Once your settled, give them a call," the Hatter advised him, giving him a small smile, "I wish you all the luck in the Universe, Mr Copper. Merry Christmas".

"Merry Christmas!" Mr Copper grinned, the Hatter gave him a small wave before running back toward the Doctor who was still waiting outside the TARDIS, "Oh, Doctor, Hatter!" he called, making them look back at him, "I want forget her," he gave them a nodded before skipping away.

They stared after him for a moment, looking up at the sky to see a shooting star fly overhead. The Doctor pulled the Hatter into a hug before pulling her inside the TARDIS, the Hatter only just managing to grab her heels and closed the doors. A moment later, the TARDIS disappeared.

…..

The Doctor frowned as he wondered around the halls of the TARDIS, searching for the Hatter. She had left him two hours ago, telling him that she was going to get changed into something else and that she would be back, two hours later, she still hadn't returned. It wasn't that he was worried that she would get lost, not at all. If there was anyone who knew his TARDIS better than him it would be her, no, what he was worried about was why she hadn't come back to the console room.

As he continued down the hallway he was walking down, he heard the distance sound of music. Following the sound, he found himself standing outside one of the main kitchens, kitchen three as it happened. He opened the door and peeked inside to see the Hatter sitting in the middle of the kitchen at the table, a large bowl in front of her.

"Took you long enough," she remarked, not looking up as she spooned whatever was in the bowl into her mouth. Her hair was pulled back in a plait, still slightly damp from when she had taken a shower, dressed in a white Victorian style nightdress, a fluffy green nightgown over the top, and a pair of striped, rainbow coloured socks on her feet.

The Doctor blinked, staring at her outfit, "Is that what you usually wear to bed?"

The Hatter looked up at him, sitting the spoon back in the bowl as she looked down at herself, "Well, the nightdress, yes. Sometimes I'll wear pyjamas, it depends what type of mood I'm in. the dressing gown and socks are new, though. I rather like green and I've discovered that this new body is found of rainbows".

"Right," he slowly nodded, giving her outfit another look. It should have looked ridicules, not a thing matched but somehow, on her, it just worked. He shook his head and walked closer, looking over the table to see what was in the bowl, "Is that ice cream?"

"Rainbow ice cream, yes," the Hatter nodded, picking up the spoon and eating some more, "Human women eat ice cream when there upset, that and chocolate. I thought, 'well, I'm a women, and I'm upset, why not give it a try?' And here's the end result".

"Rainbow ice cream with…" he leaned closer, sniffing, "Is that banana topping?"

"Actually, it's every topping I could find, not to mention a packet of jelly babies. I'm not surprised you picked up on the banana, you are found of them. I didn't expect you not to pick up on the jelly babies, though".

"Don't you feel sick from all that sugar?" the Doctor stared at her, looking slightly concerned for her mental health.

"Not really," she shook her head, "This body has more of a sweet tooth then my last. It also appears to be more tolerable toward foods".

"I get the ice cream but what about the music?" he asked, nodding over to a small radio that was sitting on one of the benches, still playing softly in the background, "And why is it so quit? I thought the whole point of music is so you can listen to it".

"I was trying to see whether of not having music playing would make me feel happier," the Hatter told him, shrugging as she stood and walked over the radio, turning it off before returning to her seat, "Didn't work".

"Right…" he frowned, not liking the idea of how upset she sounded. They would defiantly be having a long talk about this later, but for now, it was time for him to start working on making her happy again, "Anyway, I've got something to show you".

"Doctor," she sighed, sitting the spoon back down as she looked up at him, wearily, "I'm tired, can we do this another night? All I want to do is crawl into bed and try to forget everything that happened tonight. Please?"

"Nope," the Doctor grinned, almost jumping around the kitchen with excitement, he couldn't wait to see her face, "Trust me, you're going to love it".

She frowned, eyeing him for a moment, "What is it?" she finally asked, her curiosity getting the better of her, just like he knew it would.

"It's a surprise," the Doctor replied, shrugging, "Well, technically it's two surprises but I don't really count the second one because it's more of a gift".

"Can you give me a hint?"

The Doctor continued grinning, quickly shaking his head as he held out his hand for her to take. She glanced down at her bowl, sighing slightly as she noticed that while they had been talking, the ice cream had metaled before shrugging, standing up and taking his hand.

The Doctor led her out of the kitchen and down the hall, rounding a couple of corners before coming to a stop in front of two wooden doors. The Hatter frowned as she looked at them, all of the doors in the TARDIS had a name plaque on them, the kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, etc. but these had no markings on them, just blank.

"Doctor," she turned to look at him, "What are you up to?"

"You once asked me about the TARDIS having a garden," the Doctor said, still smiling as he took a key out of his pocket and began to open the doors, "Well, I deleted the old gardens…"

"Why?" she cut in, frowning.

"They reminded me of you," the Doctor sighed, pausing as he looked at her, slightly guilty, "After the Time War, it became too painful to have things around me that reminded me of you. That's why I changed the desk top theme; you had been there when I picked it. That's why the hats were at the very back of the wardrobe, that's why I get rid of the garden. You've always loved gardens".

"To bad I can't garden to save my life," the Hatter smiled softly, trying to lighten the mood as she hugged him, "You've always teased me about it, remember?"

The Doctor smiled, pulling back as he turned back to the doors, "Of course I remember, it's not easy to forget a women who can kill a cactus after one week".

"And I still say that it was sabotaged," the Hatter argued, "I don't know who by but I'm telling you, I didn't kill that planet".

"Sure, sure," the Doctor nodded, muttering under his breath as his throw open the doors and pulled the Hatter inside.

The entire room looked like an English garden with little paths that twisted off into different directions. Above them was made to look like the sky on Earth just before sunset with reds and oranges all mixing together, the first hints of stars peeking through. The sound of running water from a fountain could be heard as a couple of birds flew past them, and strangely enough, a peacock could be seen rustling around in a nearby flower bed. All in all, it was quite a magical place to be in.

"This is…" the Hatter's mouth dropped as she stared around her, wide eyed, "This is…wow…"

"Do you like it?" the Doctor asked, watching her.

"Like it?" she turned to him, throwing her arms around her neck and kissing him, "I love it! It's brilliant!"

The Doctor grinned, picking her up and swinging her around as they laughed, before slowly placing her back down the green grass, "I have one more thing I want to show you," he said, looking into her eyes, taking a deep breath, "I…I don't want to pressure you or make you feel as if you have to…"

"Doctor," the Hatter gently placed her hand on his cheek, "You can tell me anything, you know that. Go on".

"Do you remember my Grandmother?" he asked her after a moment, the Hatter nodded and smiled, thinking back to the older Time Lady that had reminded her so much of the Doctor, "Well, after I introduced you to her, she gave me this," he reached inside his pocket and withdrew a small box with Gallifreyan symbols on the front that had began to fade, "She gave me this to give to you".

Eyeing the box, the Hatter carefully took it from his hand and opened it, gasping as she saw what was inside, "Is…is that a White-Point Star?" she asked, staring wide eyed down at the ring sitting inside the box. A beautiful round diamond sat in the middle, with the white gold band was covered all-around with small diamonds, each one of them a White-Point Star, a precious stone that was only ever found of Gallifrey.

"It's been passed down my family for generations," the Doctor explained, already knowing that she knew that it was indeed a Whit-Point Star, "My Grandmother knew before I did how I felt about you and asked me to give you this, but I never got the chance".

"It's beautiful," the Hatter breathed, "Hang on…" she trailed off, examining the ring closer to her eyes, "This is a Union ring. As in a proper, old fashioned Union ring. I thought all of these were destroyed when most people found that it was easier to simple arrange a marriage, rather than go through the whole Union of Souls ceremony".

"They were," he nodded, rubbing the back of his neck as he watched her, "Like I said, it's been in my family for generations".

"Doctor, are you asking me…" she paused after a moment of silence, shaking her head, "Do you want us to…Unite?"

"I don't want to put any pressure on you," the Doctor quickly told her, looking worried, "I'll understand if you think it's too soon…"

"It is a big step," she agreed, nodding slowly, "Once United, there's no going back," she looked at him and smiled, "But perhaps that's a good thing because I for one know that I never want to be without you".

The Doctor's eyes lit up, "Is that a yes?"

"Only if you ask me properly, Lord Doctor".

He grinned broadly and took both her hands in his, "Dame Hatter of Blyledge, will you accept my proposal?"

"Lord Doctor of Lungbarrow, I accept," the Hatter smiled as the Doctor slipped the ring on her finger, "I can't believe it," the Doctor gave her a questioning look as she started laughing, "I just got engaged while dressed in my pyjamas, only you would proposal to a woman like that".

The Doctor laughed, shaking his head as he linked his arm through hers, "And I wouldn't have it any other way," he gave her a wink before pulling her down one of the garden paths, both laughing merrily.

_**This is the biggest chapter so far in the entire series, 13,116 words; I didn't think I could type that much in one chapter. Yay, the Doctor and the Hatter are engaged! Well, United but it's basically same…only slightly different. The Hatter will explain the difference between Uniting and a marriage to Donna at some stage. Next chapter, the Doctor and Hatter discuss neckwear, the Doctor learns something about Time Ladies, and the Hatter's sweet tooth makes another appearance, much to the Doctor's amusement and worry. I hope you liked it, tell me what you thought :)**_


	3. Chapter 3 Partners in Crime, part 1

_**Partners in Crime, part 1.**_

"Hatter!" the Doctor called as he rounded a corner and walking into the wardrobe, coming to a very quick and sudden stop as he spotted the Hatter standing in front of a mirror, in the process of doing up the buttons on her new, plain white shirt that she had picked out, and wearing a pair of military green leather pants, "Oh…ah, well…." He broke off, stuttering and blushing bright red as he turned to make a quick exit.

"Calm down, Doctor," the Hatter told him, giving him an amused look in the mirror as she finished butting the shirt, "It's not like you really saw anything, is it now?"

"Yes, well…" he trailed off again, turning back and coughing awkwardly.

The Hatter shook her head, giving him another amused look as she pulled a pair of rainbow braces on that had been hanging down beside her legs over her shoulders, "You never stop coming up with new ways to make me laugh, sweetheart," she remarked, not looking up at him as she grabbed a rainbow bowtie and began tying it around her neck, under her collar.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" he asked, sounding slightly unsure as he leant against the door, watching her with a faint blush.

"Good," she assured him, giving him a smile as she straightened her bowtie in the mirror, "Now, what do you think?" she asked him, gesturing to herself as she turned around, "I'm not quite finished yet, still have a couple of things left".

"Bowties?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows, staring at it, "You're going to wear a _bowtie_?"

"What's wrong with bowties?" she asked, fiddling with it as she turned away and picked up a green military style vest with brass buttons on the front, pulling it on, "I think that bowties are quit dashing, if you must know".

"It's just…different," the Doctor told her quickly, still eyeing the object in question, "Anyway, I came to tell you something".

"And here I thought you had come to watch me get dressed," the Hatter said, giving a dramatic sigh as she began pulling on a pair of lace-up brown riding boots with a small heel, tucking her pants into them, "Such a shame, Doctor".

He shook his head, blushing again as he ran a hand through his hair, "That's not exactly what happened," he defended himself, getting back to the point, "The TARDIS scanners picked up something odd".

"Go on," she nodded, listening as she pulled a military green trench coat on before grabbing a green Pork Pie hat and putting it on top of her head, turning back to the mirror and examining herself.

"There's a new weight loss drug," the Doctor explained, "The companies called 'Adipose Industries'. The TARDIS picked up alien technology inside the building; I thought we could check it out".

"Better to be safe than sorry," she nodded, frowning as she looked thoughtful, "Or though, I think I've heard of it somewhere before…"

That was the thing about becoming a Time Lady again after five years of being a human; parts of her memory were still missing. She could remember parts of her life as a human, but there were still details that were missing, things that didn't quite fit. Also, she still couldn't remember what happened to her TARDIS, something that bothered her greatly.

Not that she would just run off if she did have her TARDIS, not at all, but it would be nice to be able to have a part of her old life before the war, something that held so many memories of her past companions, something that had been her home for the best part of her life.

The Hatter thought for a moment before shrugging, "Never mind, come on," she walked out, grabbing his hand and began pulling him toward the console room, forcing him to hurry after her.

….

"Are you sure this is the right place?" the Hatter asked as they stood in the middle of a crowed street, people hurrying around them as they looked up at a large building with the sign 'Adipose Industries' out the front, "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time we've got the wrong address and gone running inside, only to find ourselves interrupting a perfectly normal mothers club".

"That wasn't my fault," the Doctor pouted, blushing, "If you and Martha hadn't distracted me…"

"And how did we do that?"

"You…" he trailed off, realising that she had court him and sighed, "Alright, fine, that time was _my_ fault but I've checked and double checked this one. It's defiantly the right place".

"Very well, then," she nodded, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her around the side of the building, looking for a fire exit. It wasn't long before they found one and the Doctor gave the door a quick flash with his sonic, stepping through to find themselves inside the basement corridors.

They made their way down the corridor, the Doctor quickly flashed a passing security guard his psychic paper, "John Smith, Ariana Hatter, Health and Safety," he told the guard, the Hatter trying her best to look professional while wearing a rainbow bowtie.

Luckily, the guard didn't seem to take much notice of them and simply gave them a nod before continuing on his way. The Time Lords exchanged relieved looks, mainly on the Hatter's part as they made their way further into the building, managing to make their way to a projection room that overlooked a large lecture room that already had a small crowd of people, mainly possible sponsors and press, all preparing to listen to the head of the company.

It wasn't long before a woman with blonde hair, square glasses, and dressed in a black suit began the presentation from where she stood at the front of the room, "Adipose Industries," she said to the room, "The 21st century way to lose weight. No exercise, no diet, no pain. Just lifelong freedom from fat. The Holy Grail of the modern age. And here it is," she held up to the room a small red and white capsule, "You just take one capsule, one capsule once a day, for three weeks. And the fat, as they say…"

Behind her, a large projection screen began playing.

"The fat just walks away," the computer finished, the words appearing at the bottom of the screen.

"Excuse me, Miss Foster," a young woman called from the audience, "I'm Penny Carter, science correspondent for _The Observer_. There are a thousand diet pills on the market, a thousand con men stealing people's money. How do we know the fat isn't going straight into your bank account?"

"Oh Penny, if cynicism burnt up calories, we'd all be as thin as rakes," Miss Foster tried to laugh, turning serious again as she took of her glasses, "But if you want the science, I oblige".

"Adipose Industries," everyone looked back to the projection screen as it started up again, this time showing a diagram of the human body and how the pills worked, "The Adipose capsule is composed of synthesized mobilizing lipase, bound to a large protein molecule," the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks, frowning at the science, something was very wrong, "The mobilizing lipase breaks up the triglycerides stored in the Adipose cells, which then enter…"

"You were defiantly right to come here, Doctor," the Hatter said quietly to him, frowning, "This is very odd," something behind her made a noise and she looked around to see the projectionist walking into the room, the Hatter gently nudged the Doctor.

"Health and Safety," the Doctor told the man, holding up the psychic paper again, adding when the man didn't look convinced, "Film department".

"100 percent legal, 100 percent effective," Miss Foster finished as the projection ended.

"But, can I just ask, how many people have taken the pills to date?" Penny asked.

Miss Foster sighed slightly, taking off her glasses before she answered, "We've already got one million customers within the Greater London area alone," she told them, "But from next week, we start rolling out nationwide. The future stats here. And Britain will be _thin_".

"You know, I'll never understand why the human race are obsessed with losing weight," the Hatter sighed as the presentation ended and the people below them began to leave, "I mean, I understand the health risks but I don't understand why anyone would want to be so thin that they can see their own bones. Why should it even matter what a person looks like? It's what is inside that count's. I just wish that more people would realise that".

The Doctor smiled at her, "That's why you're so brilliant," he kissed her cheek; "You can look at a person and see past everything and to the person that they really are".

"And I think that you're the same," the Hatter grinned at him, "Both of us brilliant together, well, you're way past just being brilliant".

"You to," he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room, "Come on".

…

The Doctor and the Hatter were walking through the call center of Adipose Industries; phones were ringing all around them as the various employees answered them with the same reply, "Good morning, I represent Adipose Industries," before giving there sales pitch.

The Time Lords looked around before ducking into a small cubicle were a women was talking on the phone, "We deliver within three working days…" she was saying into the phone.

"John Smith and Ariana Hatter," the Doctor whispered to her so not to be heard on the other end of the phone, flashing the physic paper at her, "Health and Safety".

"Don't mind us," the Hatter added quietly, giving her a small smile despite the odd look the women was giving her because of her strange outfit, "Just carry on as if we're not here".

"Listen, have you got any samples of anything you send out with the pills?" the Doctor asked her, not taking any notice in the way that the women was now eyeing him, the Hatter merely raised her eyebrows at her.

"It is made of 18 carat gold," the women nodded, still speaking into the phone as she handed them a small box. The Hatter took the box and opened it, taking the golden pendent out and began examining it carefully, "And it's yours for free. No, we don't give away pens, sorry. No, I can't make an exception, no".

The Hatter frowned at the pendant, sensing that there was more to the pendant then what she could see with her eyes. She shook her head and passed it to the Doctor, turning to the women, "We're going to need to keep this," she whispered to her, "Just routine testing. Um, could you give us a list of a few of your clients in the area?"

The women nodded, finishing her call as she turned to her computer and brought the information up, casting a glance every now and then at the Doctor.

The Doctor stood from his chair, looking around, "That's the printer there?"

"By the planet, yeah," the women nodded, smiling at him.

"Brilliant," he nodded, sitting back down as the women brought up more information on the computer, just as he realised something and stood once more, earning an odd look from the Hatter, "Has it got paper?"

"Yeah, Jimbo keeps it stocked," the women replied.

The Hatter shook her head, grabbing the back of the Doctor's jacket and pulling him back down, "Would you stop jumping up and down?" she sighed, giving him a look, "You drawing attention to yourself".

"Excuse me, everyone, if I could have your attention!" someone called, the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks and looked up to see Miss Foster standing close by with two men. Everyone stopped what they were doing and focused on her, "On average, you're each selling forty Adipose packs per day. It's not enough. I want one hundred sales per person per day. And if not, you'll be replaced. 'Cos if anyone is good in trimming the fat, it's me. Now. Back to it," she gave a nod before turning and walking away, followed by two security guards.

"Anyway, if you could print that off," the Doctor smiled, turning back to the women, "Thanks," she nodded, giving him another smile as she hit print on the computer before slipping him a piece of paper, "Thanks, then," he frowned as he looked down at the paper, "Oh, what's that?"

"My telephone number," the women grinned at him, slyly.

The Hatter blinked, staring at her, it never stopped amazing her how humans could be so matter of fact about things like this. Time Lords were most certainly not that open, about anything, really.

"What for?" the Doctor asked, looking confused as he glanced toward the Hatter.

"Health and Safety," the women gave him a suggestive look, raising her eyebrows, "You be health, I'll be safety".

The Doctor's eyes winded, casting a look at the Hatter to see her simply giving the women a raised eyebrow look, looking on the verge of amusement. Her eyes flicked to his and he gave her a pleading look, having no idea as what to do with this turn of events, after all, she was usually the one who would help him with this sort of thing back in school. On the rare occasions that something like this would occur.

Rolling her eyes slightly, the Time Lady put on her best serious look and turned to the human women, "That, I'm afraid, contravenes paragraph five, subsection C," she informed the women, standing up and making her blink, looking at her as if she had only just remembered that she was there, "Conflict of interest. We have a very, _very_ strict way of doing this".

She grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him out of the cubicle, heading toward the printer, "Where did all of that come from?" he asked, staring at her, slight stunned by how convincing she had been.

"Oh please, did you think I was going to do some sort of jealous fiancé thing?" she asked him, raising her eyebrows at him, "No, that's not my style. Women can flirt with you if they want, just as long as you don't flirt back because I know that you love me, and that you would never do anything to hurt me. Besides, getting jealous is such a human thing to do, not to mention a waste of time. I'm a Time Lady, Time Ladies don't get jealous over things like this, too trivial. No, a Time Lady would get jealous about someone outsmarting them".

"Is that really how you think?" the Doctor asked her curiously, "Because I know for a fact that my wife, your cousin, was jealous about you".

"Only because I outsmarted her," the Hatter replied, reaching the printer and looking around it, "She didn't like that I was smarter than her, therefore, she became jealous and tried to take everything connected to me," she cast him a meaningful look, "Including you. She always did hate how close we were…are".

The Doctor slowly nodded, thinking about it, it did make sense. Most Time Lords from a young age were expected to make their family name proud, to do everything and anything to make sure that they came out on top. It caused quite a few rivals amongst siblings, always trying to outdo one another. He guessed that it was no surprise then that instead of getting jealous over someone flirting with her fiancé, the Hatter merely looked amused by it. As strange as it might have been, she did have a point about it being a waste of time when she knew perfectly well how much he loved her, what was the point of getting jealous when she already knew that he was hers, and she was his?

"Oh dear," the Doctor looked up, shaking his head to try and clear his thoughts as he noticed the Hatter frowning at the printer.

"What is it?" he asked, slightly concerned.

"The lists of addresses didn't print out," she sighed, "Wait here, I'll be right back," she gave him a stern look not to wonder off, turning on her heel and hurrying back to the women, "Hi, sorry, me again," she smiled at her, trying hard not to show her amusement when she noticed the women looking disappoint that it wasn't the Doctor, "Yeah, um, it would appear that the list of names didn't print out, would you mind printing it again?"

The women nodded, turning back to her computer, "Sure".

….

The Doctor knocked on the front door of a Mr Roger Davey, one of the first people on the list from Adipose Industries. The Hatter had laughed out loud when the Doctor had decided that they should interview a man, rather than a woman, not wanting to end up spending the interview trying to fight of a flirting woman, needless to say, he had quickly become quit when she had pointed out that seeing a man could open up the chances of her being flirted with.

"Mr Roger Davey," the Doctor greeted as the front door was opened by quite a thin man, "We're calling on behalf of Adipose Industries," he flashed his psychic paper, "Just need to ask you a few questions".

"_Please_?" the Hatter added, shooting the Doctor a sideways look. Or though his Fourth self might have claimed quite a few times that his manners were impeccable, anyone who knew him or travelled with him would know otherwise, especially in this regeneration.

"Oh, yes, of course," Mr Davey nodded, stepping back so they could enter before closing the door and leading them into his living room.

"Can you please tell us how long you have been on the Adipose capsules for, Mr Davey?" the Hatter asked as the Doctor began pacing the room while the other man took a seat on his sofa.

"I've been on the pills two weeks now," he informed them, sounding proud of himself, "I've lost fourteen kilos".

"That's the same amount every day?" the Doctor asked, still pacing while the Hatter eyed a picture that was stuck into the picture frame of another, looking at it slightly impressed as it showed how much weight Mr Davey really had lost.

"One kilo exactly," he nodded, "You wake, and it's disappeared overnight," he frowned, "Well, technically speaking, it's gone by ten past one in the morning".

"What makes you say that?" the Time Lords questioned, looking slightly concerned.

"That's when I get up," Mr Davey shrugged, "Might as well weigh myself at the same time".

The Hatter frowned, titling her head, "Night shift?"

"No," he shook his head, standing, "I'll show you," he lead them back outside and pointed up at the burglar alarm above his front door, "It is driving me mad. Ten minutes past one, every night, bang on the dot, without fail, the burglar alarm goes off. I've had experts in, I've had it replaced, I've even phoned Watchdog. But no, ten past one in the morning, off it goes".

"But with no burglars?" the Doctor frowned.

Mr Davey looked at them, shaking his head, "Nothing. I've given up looking".

"You wouldn't by any chance happen to have a cat flap, Mr Davey?" the Hatter asked him, having a sudden idea.

Mr Davey nodded and led them back inside, toward his kitchen were they knelt down in front of the back door, examining the cat flap, "It was there when I bought the house," he told them, "Never bothered with it. I'm not a cat person".

"No, we've met cat people," the Doctor agreed, slightly distracted as he eyed the flap, gesturing to the Hatter beside him, "You are nothing like them".

"I think he means that he doesn't like cats, Doctor," the Hatter gave him a slightly amused look, "Not that _he's_ a cat person".

"Same difference," the Doctor shrugged, sending her a small wink as she shook her head.

"Is that what it is then?" Mr Davey asked, frowning slight at the idea, "Cats getting inside the house?"

"Well, the thing about cat flaps is that they don't just let things in," the Hatter sighed, "They let things out as well".

"Like what?" Mr Davey asked, looking a little fearful of the answer.

The Doctor and the Hatter looked at each other, saying in unison as he dropped the cat flap shut, "The fat just walks away".

"Anyway," the Hatter shook her head, standing up as the Doctor followed and began making their way toward the front door, stepping outside, "We'll be going now, Mr Davey," she smiled at him, reaching out and shacking his hand, "Lovely to meet you".

"Yeah, thanks for the help," the Doctor smiled at him before frowning slightly as a thought came to him, "Tell you what, maybe you could lay off the pills for a week or so…" a beeping sound coming from the Hatter cut him off, making both men turn to her.

"Ooh, I've been wounding if this would work," she muttered, looking pleased as she quickly pattered her pockets down before extracting a Y-shaped device that had a blinking red dot on it. The Doctor blinked at her, trying to remember when she had made that, but then again, she did have a habit of making things when she was bored and not telling him, "Sorry Mr Davey, we've got to dash".

She gave the confused man a wave, grabbing the Doctor's hand and started running down the street and turning a corner, following the signal. They ran a couple more blokes before pausing, the Hater frowning down at the device before hitting it a couple of times.

"Stupid thing," she muttered, blowing on the device as a black van drove past them.

"When did you make that?" the Doctor asked, gesturing with his hand that wasn't in hers at the device.

The Hatter opened her mouth to answer when the device beeped again and they set off running again. They continued running through the streets, around corners and even across people's backyards, following the signal. They ran down another street and paused as the signal faded, the Hatter giving the device a shack, turning around in a circle before setting off again as it beeped once more. They ran further down the street before following the signal into the road, right into the path of an oncoming van.

The Doctor's eyes winded as he noticed that the Hatter was focused on the device, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her out of the way, watching as the van speed past them, leaving the Hatter to blink, realising that she was almost hit.

"Never do that again," he breathed, pulling her into a tight hug as she blinked.

"Right…" she nodded slowly before she was cut off from saying more as the device beeped in the direction of the van, making them exchanged quick looks before they were speeding after it…but sadly it was too fast for them and they were unable to catch it before the van went around the corner.

The Doctor and the Hatter sighed, looking at each other as they slowly nodded and began heading back towards the TARDIS to try and find out more about Adipose.

….

The Doctor was leaning over the console of the TARDIS, looking through a magnifying glass at the golden Adipose Industries capsule pendant, examining it closely, "Oh, fascinating!" he remarked, his eyes widening slightly, "Seems to be a bio-flip digital stitch, specifically for…" he trailed off as he looked up and court sight of the Hatter approaching him.

"What?" she asked, giving him a confused look as it dawned on her and she looked down at the bowl she was holding, "Oh, right, I got a bit hungry".

"Don't you usually cook cookie dough?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows at her, looking amused. This new regeneration of hers was defiantly proving to have quite the sweet tooth, he had even seen her snacking on a bag of jelly babies while reading a book in the library, something that both amused him and worried him that she might be turning into his Fourth self. Thank goodness she no longer wore the scarf…well, a bowtie but that was something else to worry about for another time.

"Who has time to bake while investigating something?" the Hatter asked, shrugging as she sat the bowl down on the jump seat and grabbed the magnifying glass, looking through it at the pendant, "Oh yes, I see what you mean…" she trailed off and frowned, "But it appears to be tuned into human fat cells".

"Yes," the Doctor nodded and lifted the pendant up, "When you twist the two parts of the capsule, it triggers the human fat cells…."

"To basically walk away," the Hatter finished, eyeing the pendant, titling her head to the side, "Oh dear, if people started seeing parts of their own stomachs or were ever they have fat suddenly jump out of them and start walking around, there would be mass chaos. People would start panicking and that's the last thing Adipose Industries will be wanting. Well, it's the last thing we want to happen too but for a different reason".

The Doctor nodded, smiling as he sent her a wink, "Ready for another day of sleuthing, Miss Shirley Holmes?"

The Hatter gave him a half amused, half pouting look, "Why can't I be Doctor Joan Watson or Gregoria Lestrade?"

"Because I'm the Doctor," he replied, looking as if he was struggling to hold back his laughter at how childlike the women in front of him could sound at times. It really was endearing, but he would never tell her any of that for fear of her hitting him for calling her a child.

"So am I," the Hatter said, crossing her arms, "So that little augment's not going to work on me, mister".

Without any warning, the Doctor jumped forward and kissed her, pulling her closer to him as he deepened the kiss, leaving them both breathless as they broke apart a couple of minutes later.

"You win this time, Doctor Watson," the Hatter told him, still breathing deeper than usual as she tried to control her racing heart beats before she leaned closer to him, whispering in his ear, "But that won't always be the case," she gave him a small wink as she noticed the slightly worried look on his face as she walked around the console, pausing as she looked back at him, "Well, are we going to stand here all day or are we going to find out more about Adipose?"

"Um, right," he blinked, still eyeing her for a moment before shaking his head and began pushing buttons and pulling levers with her help, mineralizing the TARDIS in an alley behind the Adipose building. They stepped out, passing a bright blue car and heading towards the same fire exit they had used the day before to enter the Adipose building.

The Doctor flashed his sonic at the door, causing it to spark before they slipped inside, walking through the deserted corridor until they came to a stop in front of a storage cupboard. He opened the door, gesturing for the Hatter to go first before stepping in himself and sonic the door shut.

"So…" the Hatter began, looking around the tight space as she grabbed a bucket and turned it over to make a seat, looking back at the Doctor, "How long do you think we'll be in here?"

The Doctor thought about for a moment, "About…9 hours," he said after a moment, nodding.

"Well, I know one thing we can do the waste the time," the Hatter said, smiling as she noticed his eyes brighten. She reached inside her pocket and pulled out a small paper bag, holding it out for him, "Would you like a jelly baby, sweetheart?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, looking at her fondly as he grabbed her hand, but before she could pull away, realising what he was up to, he had pulled her toward him and kissed her, chucking the bag of jelly babies over his shoulder in the process, both sicking deeper into the kiss.

…

9 hours later, the Doctor and the Hatter stepped outside, both adjusting their chosen neckwear as they both blushed. Their clothing was rumpled and their hair was sticking up, mainly the Doctor's while the Hatter's hair had the appearance of someone not bothering to brush it after waking up in the morning. They both glanced at each other, blushing once more.

"Well, that was different," the Hatter remarked, slightly breathless, "I don't think I've ever wasted the time like that before".

"Same," the Doctor agreed, running a hand through his hair to try and tame it, "Still…it was fun".

The Hatter stared at him before hitting the back of his head, making him yelp in surprise, "Fun?" she repeated, "After you just tried to tear my new shirt off, all you can say is fun! Dear me, you're worse than a hormonal human teenager".

"I'm not that bad!" he exclaimed, looking guilty. Well, it was sort of the truth, he had got a little carried away, after all.

"Believe me, you are," she replied, looking amused, "If I hadn't managed to stop you from unbuttoning my shirt, who knows what might have happened".

"Oh…shut up, you," the Doctor muttered after a moment, ignoring the laughter coming from the Hatter as he grabbed her hand, pulling her down the deserted corridor and making their way up to the roof and over to the window cleaner's cradle that they had discovered while looking around the building the day before.

"This might be a bad time to mention it, but this new body is not the greatest fan of heights," the Hatter commented, eyeing the cradle as the Doctor climbed into it, holding out his hand for her to take.

"Now I know your lying," the Doctor replied, giving her a look. She had been fine when they had been on the _Titanic_, the only reason she was pretending now was because something bad always happened, but not this time, "Anyway, nothing is going to happen, I'll make sure of that".

"Thank you, Doctor, for your words of comfort," she rolled her eyes, giving him a look as she gingerly climbed into the cradle, eyeing it slightly as the Doctor put an arm around her. She had been lying when she said she didn't like heights, but that didn't mean that she couldn't be nervous while standing a couple of stories above the ground.

"Ready?" he asked, his voice softer and gentler then before, preparing to start the cradle to go down the side of the building.

"Ready as I'll ever be," the Hatter nodded, still eyeing the side.

The Doctor gave her a small smile before flashing his sonic and bringing the cradle down the side of the building at a steady pace until they reached a window that looked into what appeared to be the main office space. A moment later, the door to the office opened and Miss Foster walked in, followed by the women from earlier, Penny, and Foster's sanctuary guards, the Time Lords quickly ducked below the window so not to be caught.

"You've got no right to this!" Penny shouted, loud enough for them to hear through the thick glass, struggling to break free of the two men holding her, "Let me go!"

The Doctor reached inside his pocket and pulled out his stethoscope, turning to the Hatter, only to find her with her own stethoscope. He gave her a questioning look and she simply winked back. He shook his head and they both placed the scope end on the side of the wall, listening in.

"This is ridiculous!" Penny was saying.

"Sit there," Miss Foster told her, not seeming to be paying any attention to her.

"I'm phoning my editor…"

"I said_ sit_," Miss Foster repented, a slight edge coming into her voice.

"You can't tie me up!" Penny cried a moment later, the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged concerned looks as they realised that the other women was being bound her chair, "What sort of country do you think this is?"

"Oh, it's a beautifully fat country. And believe me, I've travelled a long way to find obesity on this scale".

"So come on then, Miss Foster, these pills. What are they?"

"Well, you might just as well have a scoop, since you'll never see it printed. This…is the spark of life".

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Officially, the capsule attracts all the fat cells and flushes them away. Well, it certainly attracts them, that part's true. But it binds the fat together and galvanizes it to form a body".

"Well, what d'you mean 'a body?'" Penny asked, sounding confused.

"I am surprised you never asked about my name," Miss Foster replied, "I chose it well. Foster, as in foster mother. And these…" the Doctor and the Hatter moved so they could peek their heads up to see through the window, catching sigh of a white blob like creature with a small face sitting on the desk, "Are my children".

"You're kidding me," Penny gasped, eyeing the creature, "What the hell is that?"

"Adipose," Miss Foster told her, smiling fondly, "It's called an Adipose. Made out of living fat. Stripped from ordinary human…"

The conversation seemed to fade into the background as the Hatter grabbed the Doctor's arm, nodding wide eyed toward the other side of the office. He frowned and followed her line of sight, his own eyes widening as he spotted none other than Donna Noble looking back at them through the small window on the other side of the office door, looking shocked as she stared at him.

"_Donna_?" both Time Lord mouthed at her, looking stunned.

"_DOCTOR_!" Donna mouthed back, grinning broadly, the Hatter mentally winced as she realised that she would have a lot of explaining to do.

"_But…what_? _Wha…what_?"

"_OH MY GOD_!"

"_But…how_?"

"_It's me_!" Donna mouthed, pointing to herself as the Hatter struggled to control her laughter, this really could only ever happen while being around the Doctor.

"_Well, we can see that_!" the Doctor mouthed back, nodding as he gestured to himself and the Hatter.

"_Oh this is brilliant_!" Donna laughed before frowning as she took notice of the Hatter, pointing at her, "_Who are you_?"

"_It's me, Donna_," the Time Lady mouthed, pointing to her hat, "_The Hatter, remember_?"

"_But…but…_" Donna waved her hand around, looking extremely confused as she gestured to her face.

"_Oh, right, sorry_," she mouthed back, shaking her head, "_I'll explain later, but it really is me. I just look and sound a little different_".

"_Oi_!" the Doctor waved his arms around, drawing there attention back to him, "_More important things to talk about_," both women nodded and focused on him, "_What are you doing here_?" he mouthed to Donna.

"_I was looking for you_!" Donna replied, adding on second thought, "_Both of you_".

The Doctor blinked, pointing at himself and the Hatter, mouthing back, "_What for_?"

"_I, came here_…" she started miming what she was telling them, "_Trouble, read about it, internet, I thought, trouble equals you_! _And this place is weird_! _Pills_! _So I hid_. _Back there_. _Heard this lot_. _Looked_. _You_! '_Cos they_…" she froze as she pointed back inside the office.

The Doctor and the Hatter followed her gaze, only to find Miss Foster, Penny, and Foster's guards staring back at them, "Are we interrupting you?" Miss Foster asked, looking unimpressed as she looked in-between the two groups.

"_Run_!" the Doctor and Hatter mouthed at Donna, who quickly turned on her heel and ran while the Doctor sonic the office door, locking it.

"Get her!" Miss Foster ordered her guards, pointing after Donna.

The Hatter groaned and grabbed the Doctor's sonic from his hand, pointing it up and using it to take them back up to the roof.

"And them!" Miss Foster added, nodding over to the place that the Time Lords had just vanished from as her guards began struggling to open the door.

_**The next chapter might take a bit longer for me to finish because I'm having four impacted wisdom teeth removed, something I'm dreading because I'm not going to be able to eat anything for a couple of days, not to mention how painful it's going to be. Why do people even need to have wisdom teeth in the first place when most people end up needing to have them removed? Anyway, next chapter, Donna and the Hatter meet again, however will the Doctor coop with those two around him? What's this about a rubber duck? There's a link on my profile for the Hatter's new outfit, it's called 'The Hatter number 10'. I hope you liked it, please review :)**_


	4. Chapter 4 Partners in Crime, part 2

_**Partners in crime, part 2.**_

As soon as the Time lords reached the top of the roof, they scrambled out of the cradle, the Doctor jumping the last couple of stairs while the Hatter skipped two at a time. They ran across the roof and through the door that led downstairs, running down a few levels until they ran into Donna, who grabbed the Doctor and pulled him into a hug.

"Oh my God!" Danna gasped, pulling back as she stared at him, "I don't believe it! You've even got the same suit!" she looked him up and down, sounding aghast, "Don't you ever change?"

"Oh I don't know about that, Donna," the Hatter remarked, looking amused, "I think he's starting to get a couple of grey hairs since the last time we saw you".

Donna frowned and turned to her as the Doctor touched his hair, looking concerned, "How can you be the Hatter?" she demanded, looking at her, "Your blonde, she had red hair! Not to mention you accent, she was English, you sound Scottish".

"Yeah, that's sort of hard to explain right now," the Hatter nodded, biting her lip, "I guess the simplest way to put it is, I was shot in the chest by a stray bullet which led to me regeneration," seeing Donna's confused look, she quickly continued, "Regenerations means that or though I'm still the same person, I just look, behaviour, and talk a little differently. It's all very complicated and I'll explain more later, but I'm still the same women you first meet…" she fiddled with a piece of her hair, "Just blonde".

"Right…" Donna nodded slowly, still eyeing the other women, looking a little unsure.

"Ooh, we've got company," the Doctor suddenly said, leaning over the railing to see the two guards quickly approaching, "Just like old times!" he called, turning back around and grabbing the Hatter's hand, running back toward the roof, Donna following after them.

When they reached the roof, the Doctor ran over to the cradle, dragging the Hatter with him while Donna babbled excitedly behind them as they set to work on the controls.

"'Cos I thought, how do I find the Doctor and the Hatter?" she babbled on, the Hatter nodded to show she was listening while she helped the Doctor, "And then I just thought, look for trouble and then they'll turn up! So I looked everywhere, you name it, UFOs, sightings, crop circles, sea monsters. I looked, I found them all. Like that stuff about the bees disappearing, I thought, I bet they're connected. 'Cos the thing is, I believe it all now. You opened my eyes. All those amazing things out there, I believe them all. Well, apart from that replica of the _Titanic_ flying over Buckingham Palace on Christmas Day, I mean that's gotta be a hoax!"

"Hang on, what do you mean about the bees disappearing?" the Hatter asked, frowning as she looked over her shoulder to her. There was something odd about that, something that didn't feel right.

"I don't know," Donna shrugged, "That's what it says on the internet," she watched as the Time Lords climbed back into the cradle, the Doctor helping the Hatter to get in, "Well on the same site, there was all the conspiracy theories about Adipose Industries, I thought 'let's take a look…'"

"In you get!" the Doctor called down to her, gesturing for her to climb up and into the cradle.

"What, in that thing?" Donna asked, eyeing the cradle.

"Yes in that thing!"

"Please, Donna," the Hatter tried, holding out her hand for her to take.

"But if we go down in that, they'll just call us back up again," Donna frowned, still eyeing the cradle, not wanting to go anywhere near it.

"No, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, "'Cos we've locked the controls with a sonic cage. We're the only ones who can control it," Donna reluctantly took the Hatter's hand and climbed into the cradle, giving the Hatter a grateful look as the Time Lady gave a reassuring smile, "Not unless she's got a sonic device of her own. Which is very unlikely".

"Doctor," the Hatter groaned as the Doctor activated the controls, sending them down, "Don't talk like that, you'll end up jinxing it".

As they continued the descend down the side of the building, the cradle gave a small jolt and they looked up to see Miss Foster pointing something at the controls. The cradle suddenly began to pick up speed, sending them crashing to floor of it, but luckily the Doctor managed to stop it with his sonic.

"What did I tell you?" the Hatter sighed, rubbing the back of her head from where she had hit the side of the cradle, wincing slightly as she felt a lump forming, "Talking like that is only going to jinx things!"

"I didn't know she had a sonic device!" the Doctor defended, standing up and trying to open the window in front of them, "Hold on. Hold on, we can get in through the window!" he started using his sonic on it as the Hatter helped Donna to stand, only the sonic didn't seem to be working, "Can't get it open!"

"It's deadlock sealed," the Hatter sighed, examining the window, " The sonic screwdrivers is about as much help as a rubber duck would be right now".

"A rubber duck?" the Doctor paused, giving her an amused look.

"It was the first thing that came to me," she shrugged, giving him a smile.

"Well smash it then!" Donna shouted, turning around, holding a large spanner as she began hitting it against the glass. They continued trying to open the window, only nothing worked, not even a crack appeared. Donna frowned and looked up, gasping, "Cutting the cable!"

The Doctor and the Hatter frowned, looking up when the cable suddenly broke. One side of the cradle fell, the Doctor grabbed hold of the Hatter and held her to him, but before the Hatter could grab Donna, she slipped and fall, only just grabbing the broken piece of cable, leaving her to dangle in the open air.

"Donna!" the Doctor and the Hatter cried, looking over to see her clinging on for dear life.

"Doctor!" she shouted back, "Hatter!"

"Hold on!" the Doctor called down to her.

"I AM!" the Doctor and the Hatter began trying to pull the cable back up, only to find that they couldn't, "Doctor! Hatter!"

The Hatter looked back up to see Miss Foster trying to break the second cable, sighing to herself, she grabbed the Doctor's sonic and aimed it at her, causing Miss Foster's device to spark, making her drop it. The Hatter reached up and managed to catch the device as it fell, grinning, she flashed the device, a sonic pen at the window and opened the building.

"I'm going to fall!" Donna shouted as the Doctor helped the Hatter through the window, falling on top of each other in the process, "This is all your fault. I should've stayed at home!"

"We won't be a minute!" the Doctor called down to her as they climbed back to their feet, running out of the room and back down stairs until they reached Miss Foster's office. They ran inside and straight over to the window were they could see Donna's legs dangling, not taking any notice of Penny who was still tied to the chair.

"Is anyone gonna tell me what's going on?" Penny demanded, struggling in her chair as she tried to break free.

"What, you're a journalist?" the Doctor asked, opening the window, glancing over his shoulder to her.

"Yes".

"Make it up then!" the Hatter said simply, shaking her head, "Goodness me, journalism has really gone out the window since Sarah Jane's time. Now there's a proper journalist!"

"Hatter, a little help," the Doctor called to her, the Hatter quickly turned back around and started helping him try to pull Donna back inside, grabbing her legs as she tried to kick them away.

"Get off!" they could hear Donna shouting.

"We've got you!" the Doctor and the Hatter called, struggling to keep a hold of her legs, "We've got you. Stop kicking!"

With great difficulty, the Time Lords somehow managed to pull Donna safely through the window and inside the office, leaving all three of them gasping for breath.

"I was right," Donna breathed a moment later, turning to them, "It's always like this with you two, innit?"

"Oh yes!" the Doctor grinned broadly, taking the Hatter's hand as she laughed, "And off we go!" and with that, they turned and ran out of the room.

"Oi!" Penny shouted after them, having been left behind.

The Doctor ran back and appeared in the door way with the Hatter, "Sorry!" he said to her, flashing his sonic at the ropes that were binding her to the chair, releasing her before he ran out again.

"Oh, hang on!" the Hatter called as they ran down the corridor, pulling out of the Doctor's grip as she ran back to the room, pocking her head in, "Now, take my advice and get out of here!" she turned to go again but shook her head, "Also, don't bother looking for more information, no one would believe you anyway," she flashed her a smile before running after Donna and the Doctor.

The three of them continued running until they reached the call center, stopping quickly when they spotted Miss Foster and her guards, waiting for them.

"Well then," Miss Foster said calmly, taking her glasses off, "At last".

"Hello," Donna gave her a small wave as the Hatter tipped the edge of her hat.

"Nice to meet you," the Doctor smiled, eyeing the women in case she tried anything, "I'm the Doctor, and this…"

"Hello, I'm the Hatter," the Time Lady gave them a cheery wave, smiling as she noticed the Doctor's pout from not being able to introduce her.

"And I'm Donna," Donna added.

"Partners in crime," Miss Foster remarked, eyeing them, "And evidently off-worlders, judging by your sonic technology".

"Ooh, which reminds me," the Hatter nodded, patting down her pockets until she held up Miss Foster's sonic pen, "We've still got your sonic pen," she showed it to the Doctor and Donna, "I like it, very nice".

"Sleek, it's kinda sleek," the Doctor agreed, nodding as he took the pen.

"Oh it's defiantly sleek," Donna nodded, still slightly puffed from all the running.

"Yeah, and if you were to sign your real name that would be…" the Hatter trailed off, eyeing the other blonde women.

"Matron Cofelia of the Five-Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet. Intergalactic Class".

"A wet nurse," the Doctor and the Hatter's eyes winded as they realised, frowning at her, "Using humans as surrogates".

"But what for?" the Hatter added, crossing her arms.

"I've been employed by the Adipose First Family," Miss Foster explained, "To foster a new generation after their breeding planet was lost".

"What do you mean _lost_?" the Doctor asked, frowning, "How do you_ lose_ a planet?"

"Oh, politics are none of my concern," Miss Foster waved them off while the Hatter continued frowning, there was something defiantly wrong with that, just like with the bees disappearing, "I'm just here to take care of the children on behalf of the parents".

"What, like an outer space super-nanny?" Donna stared at her in disbelief.

"Yes, if you like," Miss Foster nodded, smiling.

"So…so those little things they're…they're made out of fat yeah, but that women, Stacey Campbell, there was nothing left of her".

"Oh, in a crisis the Adipose can convert bone and hair and internal organs," Miss Foster said, still smiling, "Makes them a little bit sick, poor things".

"What about poor Stacey?" Donna gasped.

"Seeding a level five planet is against galactic law," the Hatter said, looking deadly serious as she looked at Miss Foster. She may not follow most of the rules when it came to things, but as a Time Lady it was her responsibility to keep the Universe safe.

"Are you threatening me?" Miss Foster asked, narrowing her eyes at her.

"No, that's you job," the Hatter replied, speaking calmly, "We're just trying to help you, Matron. This is your last and final chance to stop, otherwise we'll stop you and somehow I can't see the Adipose Family being too pleased with you, should you be arrested".

"I hardly think you can stop bullets," Miss Foster smirked at them as her guards stepped forward and aimed their guns at them.

The Doctor's eyes winded and he quickly stepped in front of the Hatter, who gently pushed Donna behind her, "No, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on," he put his hands up, "One more thing, before…dying. Do you know what happens if you hold two identical sonic device against each other?"

"Oh dear," the Hatter muttered quietly, whispering to Donna, "Get ready to cover your ears".

Miss Foster hesitated, eyeing him wearily, "No…"

"Nor me, let's find out!" the Doctor pointed his sonic and the sonic pen together, creating a loud, almost unbearable high-pitched sound that shattered glass throughout the room. Donna and the Hatter quickly covered their ears, but not even that seemed to help. Miss Foster and her guards squirmed, covering the ears.

"That's enough!" the Hatter shouted over the sound, pushing the Doctor gently, making him pull the two sonic apart and turn to them, "Come on!" she grabbed the Doctor's hand, quickly helping Donna to stand before running out of the room.

They ran down the stairwell, the Doctor over taking the girls and leading the way down to the deserted basement corridor and over to the storage cupboard that they had hidden in earlier, pulling the door open as he started throwing things out into the corridor. The Hatter quickly pulled Donna out of the way as they watched him.

"Well, that's one solution," Donna remarked, "Hide in a cupboard. I like it".

"Not quite," the Hatter smiled at her, stepping inside the cupboard and pressing against the back wall, sliding the hidden panel open to show a machine with shining green lights built into the wall, "I guess it's lucky the Doctor just so happened to get a little carried away this morning," she remarked, making the Doctor blush as he remembered just how they had discovered the secret panel.

"Anyway," he said loudly as Donna eyed him and the Hatter, suspiciously, "Hacking in to this thing, cos the Matron's got a computer core running through the center of the building," he explained to Donna, "Triple deadlocked. But now we've got this," he held up the sonic pen, "We can get into it".

"Allow me, Doctor," the Hatter stepped forward, taking the sonic and setting to work, frowning a moment later, "She's wired up the whole building," she grabbed a couple of wires and flashed the sonic at them, "We need a little privacy".

She twisted the wires, coursing them to spark. Donna looked down the corridor to see that at the end of the corridor, created lightening between them and hit the guards as they ran toward them, knocking them out.

"Not to worry, they've only been shocked," the Hatter told Donna, seeing her face, "They'll be fine. Well, aside from the killer headache when they wake up".

"Why's she wired up the tower bloke?" the Doctor asked, frowning as he looked over the Hatter's shoulder, "What's it all for?"

Before the Hatter could answer, the computer announced, "Inducer online".

"No, no, no…" the Hatter muttered to herself, focusing on the machine in front of her.

"You look older," Donna commented, looking at the Doctor.

"Thanks," the Doctor said, glancing at her as the Hatter tried not to laugh at the remark.

"Still on your own?" Donna asked, looking in-between the Time Lords.

"Yep," he nodded, adding, "Well no, we had this friend, Martha she was called. Martha Jones. She was brilliant…and I destroyed half her life…"

"Oh no you don't!" the Hatter suddenly stood and pointed at him, looking stern, "You made Martha's life better, she told me herself. She loved traveling with us, the only reason why she left was because of the Master. You had nothing to do with it and I will not allow you to stand there, being guilty for something you had no control over".

The Doctor blinked, staring at her before shaking his head, turning back to Donna, "Anyway, Martha's fine. She's good. Like the Hatter said, she's with her family, alive".

Donna nodded as the Hatter turned back to the machine, getting back to work, "What about Rose?" she asked him.

The Doctor paused for a moment before replying, "Still lost," he shook his head, looking at Donna, "I thought you were going to travel the world?"

"Easier said than done," Donna sighed, "It's like I had that one day with you two and I was gonna change. I was gonna do so much. Then I woke up next morning, same old life. It's like you were never there. And I tried. I did try, I went to Egypt. I was gonna go barefoot and everything. And then it's all bus trips and guidebooks and don't drink the water and two weeks later you're back home. It's nothing like being with you. I must have been mad turning down that offer".

"What offer?" the Doctor asked, blankly before the Hatter could stop him.

"To come with you".

"You'd come with us?" the Doctor blinked while the Hatter shook her head at him, turning back to the machine.

"Oh yes, please!" Donna grinned broadly at him.

"Right," the Doctor said slowly, sounding unsure.

"Inducer activated," the computer announced, the Hatter groaned and starting trying to stop it from before anything else could happen.

"What's it doing now?" Donna asked, frowning.

"She's started the programme," the Hatter sighed, biting her lip as she examined the instructions now flashing across the screens.

"Inducer transmitting," the computer called again.

"So far they're just losing weight," the Doctor said, kneeling beside the Hatter and began helping her as she worked, "But the matron has gone up to emergency pathogenesis".

"That's when they convert…" Donna's eyes winded in horror as she realised what was happening, what was about to happen to all those people.

"Skeletons, organs, everything," the Hatter breathed, looking horrified as she frantically tried to stop it, "A million people are going to die if we don't stop it!"

"Gotta cancel the signal!" the Doctor called, pulling the golden Adipose pendent out of his pocket, undoing the end to reveal a small computer like chip inside, passing it to the Hatter so she could wire it in, "This contains the primary signal," he explained quickly to Donna, "If we can switch it off the fat goes back to being just fat…"

"Inducer increasing," the computer announced, making all three of them eyes winded.

"No, no, no, no, no," the Doctor and the Hatter both cried, frantically trying to stop it, "She's doubled it, we need…haven't got time! It's too far, we can't override it!" he stepped back, running his hands through his hair as the Hatter continued trying to stop it despite her knowing that is was no use, "They're all gonna die!"

"Is there anything I can do?" Donna asked, trying to stop herself from panicking as she watched them.

"Sorry, Donna," the Doctor shook his head, trying to type something in to the machine, but like they had said, nothing was working, "This is way beyond you! Gotta double the base pulse, we can't…"

"Doctor, Hatter, tell me what do you need," she tried again, this time sounding sterner.

"We need a second capsule to boost the override," the Hatter told her quickly over her shoulder, not looking away from what she was focusing on, "But sadly we've only got the one. We can't save them without it!"

Donna reached inside her pocket and pulled out the golden capsule pendent that she had been given, holding it up for them to see. The Hatter looked up as something court her eyes, gasping as she spotted the necklace before jumping up, laughing as she grabbed it, quickly hugging the other women before turning and passing it to the Doctor who was staring at the women, shocked.

"Donna Noble, your beyond brilliant!" the Time Lady grinned, pulling her into a hug as the Doctor plugged the capsule into the machine, flipping a switch and turning all the lights off before joining the girls in a group hug.

They laughed, hugging tightly just as the loud sound of a horn blearing sounded, breaking them apart.

"What the hell was that?" Donna blinked, looking up as the Time Lords exchanged looks.

"The nursery, I'm afraid," the Hatter sighed, biting her lip, looking up as well, "They'll be here for the children".

"Fine," Donna nodded, "When you say nursery you don't mean a crèche in Notting Hill".

"Nursery _ship_," the Doctor clarified as the Hatter gave the other women an amused look, she could certainly see her and Donna having a lot of fun together, not to mention anyone who could surprise the Doctor like she had was good in her book, unless they had been proven otherwise.

Suddenly the computer lit up again, making them turn to look at it, slightly alarmed, "Incoming signal," the computer announced just as it began speaking in an alien language that Donna couldn't understand, nor surprisingly, could the Hatter if it weren't for the TARDIS.

She had never really taken the time to learn many other languages apart from the basic earth, Gallifreyan, and any of the ancient languages that she had learnt when she was in school, or in the Order. She had never really seen the point when the TARDISes would have been able to translate it for her. The Doctor, on the other hand, had always been more inclined to learning languages during their school days, which now that she thought about it more, would probably be a good idea to start teaching herself in case she should ever find herself without the TARDIS to translate.

"Hadn't we better go and stop them?" Donna asked them, looking concerned.

"Hang on, instructions from the Adipose First Family," the Doctor said, listening closely as he waved her off, the Hatter doing the same as she made a mental note to start learning other languages, "She's wired up the tower bloke to convert it into a levitation post…"

"But hang on…" the Hatter frowned, closing her eyes and listening closely before snapping them open, looking concerned, "We're not the ones in trouble now…"

"SHE is!" the Doctor shouted before turning, grabbing the Hatter's hand and running out of the cupboard up the stairs, toward the roof as Donna followed after them. As soon as they reached the roof, they burst through the door to see bright blue beams of light, thousands of baby Adipose being levitated up toward the nursery ship floating above them in the night sky.

"What you gonna do then?" Donna asked, staring up at the Adipose as the Doctor and the Hatter did the same beside her, "Blow them up?"

The Hatter's head snapped around to look at her, looking horrified by the thought, "They're children, Donna," she gasped, shaking her head, "Innocent children, how could we ever do something like that?"

"They can't help where they come from," the Doctor nodded his agreement, taking the Hatter's hand as she noticed her still frowning, looking slightly troubled. The subject of children seemed to be a bit of a soft spot for this regeneration of hers, which were understandable with her children and grandchildren's deaths during the Time War. He made a mental note to watch what he said on the subject while he waited for her to bring it up, should she ever bring it up, that is.

"Oh, that makes a change from last time," Donna remarked, smiling slightly, not noticing the Hatter's face, "That Martha must've done you good," she pointedly said to the Doctor.

"Not just her," the Doctor grinned, trying to lift the Hatter's mood as he looked at her, "The Hatter's done wonders. I don't know what I'd do without her".

The Hatter rolled her eyes, catching on to what he was trying to do, "Martha was the one to do wonders," she said firmly before giving him a soft smile to show him that she was alright, "I simply came along for the ride".

The Doctor gave her a smile before glancing back at Donna, "She fancied me," he told her off handily, but still being unable to keep a trace of smugness out of his voice, making the Hatter give him a half amused look, and a half glare for giving away information that should have been kept privet. The last thing Martha needed was for the Doctor, or anyone to be talking about things like this that would no doubt embarrass her should they meet, however unlikely that maybe.

"Mad Martha," Donna smiled, "Blind Martha. Charity Martha," they looked back up at the Adipose just as one of the babies waved at them, they waving back, "I'm waving at fat," she said after a moment in disbelief.

"Actually, as a diet plan, it sort of works," the Doctor remarked just as something came into their line of sight, "There she is!" he shouted, running over to the ledge just as Miss Foster levitated up in the light beam, stopping at the same height of them, "Matron Cofelia, listen to us!"

"Oh, I don't think so, Doctor, Hatter," Miss Foster replied calmly, almost sounding smug as she looked over her glasses at them, "And if I never see you again, it will be too soon".

"Oh, why does no one ever listen?" the Doctor groaned, looking back to the girls.

"Because they believe they know best," the Hatter sighed, "And that shall be there down fall, as my dear old father once told me," she shook her head and looked back at Miss Foster, shouting, "Please, Matron, we're just trying to help!"

"Just get across to the roof!" the Doctor called to her, "Can you shift the levitation beam?"

"What, so that you can arrest me?" she scoffed.

"Please, just listen to us!" the Hatter tried again, "We've seen the Adiposian instructions, they know perfectly well that it's a crime to use Earth as a breeding planet. Think about it! So what is the one thing they are going to want to get rid of? Their accomplice!"

"I'm far more than that," Miss Foster shook her head, smiling as she held her arms out, looking up toward the main ship, "I'm nanny to all these children".

"Exactly!" the Doctor nodded, talking quickly as he realised that while they had been talking, all of the baby adipose had been taken on-board the ship, leaving the Matron on her own, "Mum and dad have got the kids now, they don't need the nanny anymore!"

Suddenly, without warning, the beam of light vanished, leaving Miss Foster to blink, stunned as she hang in the air a moment before gravity took hold and she fell with a terrified scream. Donna and the Hatter closed their eyes, Donna turning and hiding her face in the Doctor's shoulder while the Hatter patted her back, trying not to think about what she had just witnessed as they backed away from the ledge. The Doctor sighed and looked up at the departing Adipose ship to see the babies waving goodbye to them through one of the windows before leading the girls off the roof, back down stairs.

….

As the Doctor, the Hatter, and Donna made their way out of the building, ambulance and police lights flashing around them as people walked around. As they passed by a bin, the Hatter chucked the sonic pen into it before going back to watching everything going on around them.

"Oi, you three!" a women called from behind them, making them turn to see Penny trying to run over to them, still tied to the chair as she glared at them, "You're just mad. Do you hear me? Mad! And I'm gonna report you…for madness!"

"Oh dear," the Hatter shook her head, looking half amused, half concerned as she watched the other women stalk, well, as much as someone tied to a chair could stalk off through the crowd.

"You see, some people just can't take it," Donna commented, shaking her head.

"No," the Doctor nodded his agreement as he watched the women go, looking slightly surprised.

"But some people can," Donna looked at them, grinning excitedly, "So, then, TARDIS! Come on!" she grabbed both Time Lords arms and pulled them with her, dragging them over to an alley were a blue car was parked, the Hatter laughing at her excitement, but slowly lost her smile as she noticed that Donna had parked her car right in front of the TARDIS. What were the chances of that? But then again, stranger things had happened.

"That's my car!" the human women exclaimed, looking amazed, "That is like destiny! And I've been ready for this," she let go of the Time Lords and ran around the back of her car, popping the trunk open to show a number of suitcases packed inside, "I packed ages ago, just in case," she explained to them as she began pulling things out, "'Cos I thought, hot weather, cold weather, no weather…" she turned to the Doctor and started loading her luggage into his arms while the Hatter stood back, trying not to laugh at the Doctor's stunned look, "…they go anywhere, I've gotta be prepared," she pulled a stripped hat box out and added it to the rest.

"You've got a…a…hatbox?" the Doctor blinked, eyeing said box as the Hatter's eyes brightened.

"Ooh, I do love a good hat," the Time Lady grinned as she grabbed the box and peeked inside, whistling her approval as she saw the hat, "Nice hat, Donna, looks like it would suit you".

"Planets of the Hats, I'm ready!" Donna laughed, her eyes bright as she turned to the Hatter, "Is there a planet like that? Can we go there?"

"Sure, I don't see why not," the Hatter shrugged, smiling at how happy Donna looked.

"Great!" she grinned, grabbing two suitcases and pulled them over to the TARDIS, sitting them down in front to the doors as the Time Lords followed, also setting their suitcases down as Donna opened the doors, both looking serious, "Do I need injections though, do I?" Donna asked, babbling as she faced them, beaming in the doorway, "Like when you go to Cambodia, is there any of that? 'Cos my friend Veena went to Bahrain, and…" she trailed off as she noticed that the Doctor didn't look overly pleased, while the Hatter was looking at her, concerned, "You're not saying much".

"No, it's just…" the Doctor sighed, hesitating for a moment, "It's a funny old life, in the TARDIS".

"You don't want me…" she breathed, quickly losing her smile and replacing it with a look of near devastation.

"No!" the Hatter quickly said, stepping over a suitcase so she could reach the other women and put an arm around her shoulders, "That's not what we mean at all, Donna".

"But you _asked_ me," Donna looked in between the Time Lords, the Doctor staring sadly at her, "Would you rather the two of you be on your own?"

"No," the Doctor shook his head, "Actually, no," or though he really didn't want another companion, not after everything that had happened with Rose and Martha, and the truth was that he would have preferred to have just been him and the Hatter, but he also knew the Hatter enjoyed having someone traveling with them, someone else that she could talk to, "But…" he trailed off, wanting Donna to understand as he sat one of the bags he was holding down, "The last time, with Martha, like I said it…it was complicated…" he cast a look at the Hatter before looking back to Donna, "And that was all my fault," he quickly held a hand to stop the Hatter as she opened her mouth to argue, "I just want a mate".

"You just want TO MATE!" Donna cried, looking horrified and even a little disgusted as she tried to step away from him.

The Doctor's eyes winded, looking shocked as he looked in between the horrified Donna and the laughing Hatter, "I just want_ a_ mate!" he tried again.

"You're not mating with me, sunshine!" she shouted, still attempting to shield herself with the TARDIS doors while the Hatter continued laughing, almost to the point that she was crying.

"_A_ mate, I want _a_ mate!"

"Well just as well, because I'm not having any of that nonsense," Donna said, nodding slowly as she stepped out from behind the doors, the Hatter still trying to stop herself from laughing, "I mean you're just a long streak of…nothing," she gestured at him, "You know, alien nothing".

"There we are, then," the Doctor nodded, looking relived, "Okay".

Donna stared at him for a moment, glancing at the Hatter, "I can come?" she asked finally, sounding hopeful.

"How could we not?" the Hatter grinned at her, settling down from her giggling fit as she glanced at the Doctor, "We'd love it, wouldn't we, Doctor?"

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, grinning widely.

"Oh, that's just…" Donna pulled the Hatter into a tight hug before stepping away and going to hug the Doctor, quickly stopping as she suddenly remembered, "Car keys!"

"What?" the Time Lords blinked at her, exchanging looks.

"I've still got my mum's car keys!" she told them, pulling a set of keys out of her pocket and running down the alley, calling back over her shoulder just before she ran around the corner, "I won't be a minute!"

"Oh, I have missed Donna Noble," the Hatter remarked, laughing as she bent down and began picking up a couple of the suitcases, the Doctor doing the same, "I forgot how amusing she can be".

"How did I know you would find that funny?" the Doctor wondered, giving her a look as they dragged the rest of the language inside the TARDIS before going up to the console, leaning on it while they waited.

A moment later, Donna came running inside, "Off we go, then!" she shouted excitedly, grinning.

"Here it is, the TARDIS," the Doctor smiled at her, "It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside…"

"Oh, I know that bit," she waved him off, making the Hatter smile as she noticed his pout, "Although frankly, you could turn the heat up".

"Well, that was a new one," the Hatter commented, "I don't think I've ever heard someone ask for the heating to be turned up, but then again, I do love to be surprised".

The Doctor cast her a slightly amused look before turning back to Donna, "So, whole wide Universe, where do you want to go?"

Donna looked at them, smiling, "Oh, I know exactly the place".

"Which would be?" the Hatter asked.

"Two and a half miles, that way," she jerked her finger over her shoulder, still smiling.

The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged curious look, turning around to the console and began pushing buttons and pulling levers, setting the coordinates. A moment later, they arrived and the Doctor turned around, giving Donna a nod. Donna grinned and ran over to the doors, throwing them open, and waving outside.

"That's Donna!" the Time Lords heard someone shouting up to them, faintly. They glanced at each other before looking around Donna to see an older man looking up at them, looking amazed, "Yeah, that's Donna! And that's them!" the Hatter laughed and waved at him, the Doctor joining in beside her, "That's them! Hey! That's them! Ha, ha, ha! Go on girl! Go on, get up there! Hey!"

He turned around and starting dancing as the TARDIS started drifting away, sending them back off to the stars.

….

"Donna?" the Hatter called, knocking a couple of times on Donna's new bedroom door as she balanced two cups with tea in them with her other hand. She waited a moment until Donna answered before opening the door and stepping inside.

"Where's the Doctor?" Donna asked, looking up from where she was standing in front of her large wardrobe while she sorted her clothing out.

The Hatter gave her an amused smile, "Where not joined at the hip, you know? We do go places without each other, it just doesn't happen as much as it used to".

She looked up at her for a moment, "What are you two?" she asked, the Hatter smiled and ducked her head, blushing slightly, "I mean, the last time I saw you two, you were close but not _this_ close. I also noticed your ring…"

"I was waiting for this," the Hatter nodded, smiling at her as she held her hand up and looked at her ring.

Donna's eyes brightened and she slowly starting smiling, "Douse that mean that you two are…engaged?"

"In a human sense, yes," she smiled, letting Donna look closer at her ring, "The Doctor only asked me a day or so ago, I'm still trying to get used to it".

"What do you mean, 'in a human sense?'" the other women asked.

"Back on Gallifrey, married people didn't really wear rings," the Hatter explained, "Marriages only lasted a couple of centuries until one of the couple regenerated. Some Time Lords, such as my parents would chose to remarry each other, mainly for connivance, but a Union was different. Unions can never be broken, even in death it can't be. If one of the United were to die, then the other would either die from heartbreak, or try to live on as best they could".

"Right," Donna nodded, "So, how do you do a Union?"

"Well, basically the two Time Lords would go through the traditionally ceremony. It's quite simple; just say the ancient vowels, tell each other there true names, before…" she trailed off, blushing bright red as she looked away from Donna, "Um, well, you know…" she coughed, clearing her throat, "Private things, if you catch my drift".

Donna stared at her for a moment, trying to stop herself from laughing, "How old are you again?" she settled on asking, "You look more embarrassed then I was when my mum court me saying goodnight to one of my old boyfriends".

"Yes, well," the Hatter coughed again, still blushing, "This isn't something I talk about every day, after all, Time Lords were one of the most prim and proper races in the Universe. My parents would have been appalled if they could hear me right now".

"Are you going to have an Earth wedding, then?"

"We haven't really had time to talk about it much," the Time Lady replied, smiling slightly, "But I would like to, and I'm sure that the Doctor would like to, after all, Earth has always been like a second home to us, and I think it would be brilliant to have all of our friends," she gave Donna a pointed look, "Yourself included involved in the wedding".

"Do you know what this means?" Donna asked, smiling mischievously.

The Hatter blinked, giving her a weary look, "No…"

"Bachelorette party," she laughed as the Hatter groaned, "This is going to be brilliant!"

"No offence, Donna," the Hatter sighed, "But I think I would much prefer to simply have a quit night. When you've been to as many parties as I have, you quickly become tired of them".

"Alright, but we have to do something," Donna told her.

"Ooh, are you going to be my wedding planner now?"

"Of course".

"Don't I have any say in this?" the Hatter asked, looking amused.

"Nope," Donna shook her head, smiling.

The Hatter let out a dramatic sigh, trying not to smile, "Very well, Miss Noble, you may be my wedding planner. My future is in your hands, but no pressure".

"Yeah, thanks," she rolled her eyes, smiling. Both women looked at each other before busting into fits of laughter, unable to stop themselves.

_**First off, I am so, so sorry for how long it's taken me to finish this. My wisdom teeth weren't the most pleasant thing to go through, and because of how badly swollen I was, I had to miss out on more school so I've been spending the past week catching up on everything. I did, however, manage to finish the fourth chapter of 'Five Doctor's and Hatter's,' which I am trying to finish as quickly as I can, and because of how guilty I feel for leaving you hanging for the past 22 days, I'm going to give you a small sneak peek of the Five Doctor's and Hatter's. Enjoy :)**_

"_**Come along, Brigadier," the Second Doctor called over his shoulder to him, pausing for a moment to let him catch up, "Come along. This way".**_

"_**Damn it, Doctor," the other man huffed breathlessly, "I'm just not built for this kind of thing anymore".**_

"_**You never were," the Doctor replied, wincing as he felt the Hatter tighten her grip on his hand, glancing behind him to see her glaring at him, "What? It's true".**_

"_**Ignore him, Alistair," the Second Hatter told him, shooting the Doctor another look, "He's just jealous about your height," the Doctor's mouth dropped and he started spluttering.**_

_**I have no idea why but for some reason I really love writing the Second Doctor and Hatter together. Anyway, I hope you liked it, I'll try to update a soon as I can, please review :)**_


	5. Chapter 5 The Fires of Pompeii, part 1

_**The Fires of Pompeii, part 1.**_

The Doctor grinned, sending a wink at the Hatter as he opened the TARDIS doors, stepping out, and pulled an old curtain to the side. The Hatter shook her head fondly at him as she followed after him, Donna right on her heels.

For the past hour, the Doctor had refused to say a word of where he was taking them, even refusing to allow the Hatter to help him drive because he didn't want to ruin the surprise while he continued grinning like a mad man, something that had worried Donna who was still getting used to the Doctor's behaviour.

"Ancient Rome!" the Doctor announced excitedly, Donna gasped in shock as she stared around the busy street, packed with different people, some trying to sell different items from their market stalls, others simply browsing, "Well, not to them, obviously," he added, gesturing to the people, "To all intents and purposes right now…this is brand new Rome".

"Are you quite sure, sweetheart?" the Hatter asked, frowning as she looked around, "Because this doesn't smell, nor does it feel like Rome. In fact, it seems more like…"

"Oh my God!" Donna exclaimed, cutting the Hatter off as she looked around, amazed, "It's…it's so Roman! This is fantastic!" she almost started laughing as she turned to the Time Lords and pulled them both into a group hug, "I'm here…in Rome. Donna Noble in Rome!" she stepped away from them, looking slightly astonished as she began walking down the street, leaving the Time Lords to exchange a high fives, "This is just weird. I mean, everyone here is dead".

"Word of advice, Donna," the Hatter smiled, grabbing the Doctor's hand and practically skipping after her, "Most people don't take to kindly to being told that there dead, best not to mention it to them".

"Hold on a minute," Donna frowned, spotting something behind them as she turned back to them, pausing in the street, "That sign over there is in English," she nodded over to a sign a short distance away, "Are you having me on? Are we in Epcot?"

"No, no, no, no," the Doctor quickly said as the Hatter shook her head, "That's the TARDIS translation circuits".

"It makes everything English," the Hatter added at seeing Donna's blank look, not having a clue about what they were talking about.

"Really?"

"Oh, yes," the Doctor grinned, nodding, "Speech even. You're talking Latin right now".

Donna's eyes winded, "Seriously?"

"Mmm".

"I just said 'seriously' in Latin…" she trailed off, looking amazed.

"Welcome to the brilliant world of Time Travel, Donna Noble," the Hatter laughed, "Expect everything and anything, nothing is out of limits now".

Donna laughed before a thought came into her head, "What if I said something in actual Latin?" she wondered out loud, curiously, "Like 'veni, vidi, vici?' My dad said that when he came back from football. If I said 'veni, vidi, vici' to that lot, what would it sound like?"

The Doctor opened and closed his mouth for a moment before turning to the Hatter, "Haven't got a clue," the Time Lady replied, shrugging slightly. She had worked as a scientific engineer, not a TARIDS engineer, and therefore she had only ever been taught how to fly, control, and keep maintenance of a TARDIS. Everything else would have been in the manual, too bad the Doctor had 'disagreed' with his Type 40's manual and had thrown all the various volumes out before she could stop him.

The Doctor turned back to Donna, "You have to think of difficult questions, don't you?" he said jokingly to her, shaking his head.

"I'm gonna try it," Donna grinned, turning on her heel and marching over to a man standing by his stall.

"Hello, sweetheart," the man greeted her, smiling, "What can I get you, my love?"

"Veni, vidi, vici," she said to him.

"Huh?" the man blinked, shaking his head, looking confused, "Sorry?" he slowed down his speech, talking clearly, "Me no speak Celtic. No can do, missy".

"Yeah…" Donna nodded, dragging the word out a bit like the Doctor as she walked back of to the Time Lords, who had been watching curiously from a couple of steps away, "What does he mean 'Celtic?'" she asked them.

"Welsh," the Hatter said, sounding thoughtful, "You sounded Welsh. Interesting, I wonder if it works the same for other languages".

"There we are," the Doctor agreed, "That's something".

He linked his arm through the Hatter's and turned, wondering down the street, Donna following as they looked around for anything that might tell them of what part of Rome they had landed in.

"Won't our clothes look a bit odd?" Donna questioned, eyeing the locals around them, each dressed in either a toga or different styles of robes as she looked down at her own choice of clothing.

"Nah," the Doctor shrugged her off, "Ancient Rome, anything goes. It's like Soho…but bigger".

"You've been here before then?" she asked him curiously.

"We both have," the Hatter replied, noticing that the Doctor seemed to be a little distracted as he looked around, "It's was quite a while ago. Life times in fact".

"And before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me," the Doctor told her, making the Hatter laugh, "Well, a little bit," he admitted, avoiding the Hatter's eyes, "But I hadn't gotten the chance to look around properly. Coliseum…Pantheon…Circus Maximus…you'd expect them to be looming by now. Where is everything?" he paused, looking around before looking at the Hatter, "Any ideas?"

The Hatter opened her mouth to say, but she was cut off by Donna, "I'm not an expect," she remarked, looking up, "But there are seven hills in Rome, aren't there?" both Time Lords looked at her, "How come they only got one?"

They followed her gaze to find themselves looking at a large mountain off into the distance, looming over them just as the ground began to shack.

"Here we go again," one of the stall vendor's close by them called as all the other vendors tried to steady there varies items on sale, trying to keep them from falling.

"Wait a minute!" Donna gasped, her eyes widening as she watched as thick black smoke began billowing into the sky from above the mountain, "One mountain…with smoke…which makes this…"

"Pompeii," the Hatter finished, looking alarmed, "I knew it was Pompeii, but I hadn't realised how soon it was to…"

"Volcano Day!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing the Hatter's hand tightly, "We've gotta get out of here! Come on!"

They quickly turned and ran back the way they had come, dodging around locals, the Hatter apologising to them. When they arrive back at where they had parked the TARDIS, the Doctor pulled the old curtain back, only to find an empty space were the blue police box should have stood.

"No," the Hatter groaned, staring at the space.

"You're kidding me," Donna breathed, slightly out of breath as she stared wide eyed, "Don't tell me the TARIDS is gone".

"Okay," the Doctor nodded.

"Where is it then?"

The Doctor looked at her, "You told me not to tell you".

Donna gave him a look, making the Hatter smile faintly, "Don't get clever in Latin," she told him.

"That'll be the day, Donna," the Hatter shook her head, turning and hurrying over to the same vendor that Donna had spoken to earlier, "Ah…hello, excuse me," she tried getting his attention, "Sorry, excuse me!"

The Doctor followed after her, "There was a big…big, blue box," he started trying, taking over for the Hatter as Donna joined them, "Big, blue, wooden box…just over there. Where's it gone?"

The man looked at them, smiling smugly, "Sold it, didn't I?" he told them, almost sounding proud of himself.

"But…it wasn't yours to sell," the Doctor and the Hatter frowned.

"It was on my patch, wasn't it?" he shrugged, "I got 15 sesterces for it," he grinned, rubbing his hands together, "Lovely jubbly".

"Who did you sell it to?" the Doctor asked him quickly, wanting to get out of Pompeii as quickly as they could. The last thing they needed was to be here when the volcano erupted.

"Old Caecilius," the vendor answered, nodding down the street, "Look…if you want to argue, why don't you take it up with him? He's on Foss Street. Big villa can't miss it".

"Thanks," the Doctor nodded, grabbing the Hatter's hand and began pulling her down the street when a sudden thought came to both Time Lords, making them run back, "What did he buy a big, blue, wooden box for?"

…

The Doctor, the Hatter, and Donna ran through the streets of Pompeii, trying to follow the direction that the man had told them, keeping an eye out for the right street name while they dodged people, until the Hatter suddenly came to a stop, making the Doctor run into her as he had been just behind her.

"What is it?" he asked, looking alarmed.

"I've found it," she flashed him a bright smile, grabbing his hand and dragging him back the way they had just come until they meet Donna, who had been falling behind, standing in the middle of one of the streets.

"Ha!" the Doctor grinned, running up to the human women, "We've got it! Foss Street, this way!"

He began to run off but Donna shook her head, "No, I've found this big sort of amphitheatre, I think…" she told them, making the Time Lords turned back to her, blinking, "We can get everyone together. Then maybe they've got a great, big bell or something we could ring. Have they invited bells yet?"

"What do you want a bell for?" the Doctor asked, frowning at her as the Hatter looked slightly confused.

"To warn everyone! To start the evacuation! What time dose Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?"

The Hatter's eyes winded as she realised what she meant and she stepped forward, placing a hand on the other women's shoulder, "It's 79 AD, 23th of August," she said gently, hoping that it would help her to understand, "Which makes tomorrow the day".

"Plenty of time," Donna grinned, not understanding why they both seemed so slow. Why weren't they running around, working on a plan? That's what they always did, well, maybe without the plan part, "We can get everyone out easy".

"Except we're not going to," the Doctor told her, looking very serious as he grabbed her arm and tried to pull her away.

"But that's what you two do," Donna frowned, pulling her arm out of his grip, looking in-between them, only now beginning to notice how serous and grave they both looked, "You're the Doctor and the Hatter. You save people".

"And I wish it could be that way right now," the Hatter sighed, looking down, "But not now, not Pompeii, we never can. Pompeii is a fixed point in history, Donna, no one, not even a Time Lord can mess around with a fixed point. I'm so,_ so_ sorry".

"Says who?" she glared at them, shrugging the Doctor's hand off again as he tried to pull her down the street.

"Says me," the Doctor told her firmly.

"And me," the Hatter added, but neither the Doctor nor Donna heard her.

"What, and you're in charge?" Donna demanded, still glaring at him.

"TARDIS, Time Lord…yeah".

"Donna, human…no!"

"Hatter, Time Lady…shut up!" the Hatter shouted, stepping in-between them, "That's enough out of both of you! No more fighting, understand?"

"I don't need your permission," Danna frowned, ignoring the Hatter as if she wasn't there, "I'll tell them myself".

"You stand in the marketplace and announce the end of the world," the Doctor explained as the Hatter nodded, backing everything he was saying up, after all, it was all true, "They'll just think you're a mad old soothsayer. Now, come on," he grabbed the Hatter's hand, "TARDIS, we are getting out of here".

"Please, Donna," the Hatter tried to take her hand but she stepped away, pointedly ignoring the slightly hurt look that flashed across the Hatter's face, "Please," she tried again, a note of pleading in her tone. Time was running out, and the last thing she or the Doctor needed was to be forced to witness thousands of people dying. Just like there people had, "Donna, there's nothing we can do!"

"We've gotta go," the Doctor nodded, pulling the Hatter along with him as he turned and walked away.

"Well, I might have something to say about that, spaceman!" Donna shouted after them, storming after them, still hell bent on saving everyone, and no one was going to stop her. Not even the two Time Lords.

"Oh, I bet you do!" the Doctor called angrily over his shoulder, turning a corner and disappearing around it with the Hatter, Donna chasing after them.

….

Not long after they had turned the corner, running straight to the large villa, Caecilius's house according to the stall vendor, the ground under them began shacking once more and as they ran inside the house, a marble bust of a man began shacking, almost falling until the Doctor ran forward and grabbed it, "Whoa!" he called, steadying it and placing it back into its rightful place, slapping its cheeks, "There you go".

"Well, that could have ended badly," the Hatter commented, eyeing the bust as the Doctor sent her a wink.

"Thank you, kind Sir," a man, presumable Caecillius said to the Doctor, looking extremely grateful before a frown slowly appeared on his face, "I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor".

"Oh, that's us," the Doctor smiled, shacking his hand, gesturing with his other toward Donna and the Hatter, the Hatter giving a cheery wave, "We're visitors. Hello".

"Who are you?" Caecillus asked, looking at them, confused.

"I'm…" the Hatter's mind raced before she settled on, "…Theta…" the Doctor's head snapped around to look at her, his eyes wide in shock. She shot him a small smile, shrugging as she mouthed that she couldn't think of anything else before turning back to the man, "It's Greek, my father was a bit of a mathematical genius, you know the sort?" she lied, smiling pleasantly, "Maybe not. Anyway, most people just call me the Hatter, I prefer it actually".

"Nice to meet you," Caecillus nodded, turning to the Doctor and Donna, "And you are…?"

"I am…Spartacus," the Doctor replied after a quick moment of thinking, smiling broadly as he looked at the Hatter out of the corner of his eyes. He really should have known she would have picked either Theta or Sigma as her fake name while being here, after all, they did fit.

"And so am I," Donna replied, smiling as she and the Time Lords shared a look with each other.

"Mr and Mrs Spartacus?" Caecillus asked, looking in-between Donna and the Doctor, the Hatter only just managing to stop herself from busting into a fit of laughter at the look on their faces, a mixture of shock and slight embarrassment.

"Oh no, we're not married," the Doctor quickly shook his head at the same time that Donna said, "Not together".

"Oh, then brother and sister?" Caecillus nodded, looking in-between them, "Yes, of course. You look very much alike".

"Really?" both Donna and the Doctor blinked, looking at each other.

"Now that I think about it," the Hatter smiled, looking thoughtfully at them, "You do look simular, even more so if Donna had brown hair and eyes".

"I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade…" Caecillus frowned, remembering that he was supposed to be trying to politely ask them to leave.

"And that trade would be?" the Doctor questioned, still trying to work out why on Earth he would want a big, blue box for in the first place.

"Marble," the man replied, looking quite proud of himself while the Hatter nodded, having guessed already from all the marble statues around the place, not to mention that they seemed to be quite wealthy and marble was a expensive stone to buy, even in that day and age, "Lucius Caecilius. Mining, polishing, and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man".

"That's good," the Doctor nodded, sending the Hatter a wink, "That's good, 'cos we're the marble inspectors," he pulled out his psychic paper and flashed it at the man.

"By the gods of commerce, an inspection," a women with red hair, standing behind Cacilius gasped, having heard everything that had been said as she snatched a small goblet out of a young man's hand who was sitting by a small pool, pouring the liquid into it the pool, "I'm sorry, Sir. I do apologise for my son".

"Oi!" the young man exclaimed, glaring at his mother, the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks when no one was looking, slightly amused by the young humans behaviour.

"This is my good wife, Metella," Caecilius introduced the women, beginning to look slightly panicked, "I…I must confess, we're not prepared for a…"

"Nothing to worry about," the Doctor cut him off, waving his concern away as he looked around, trying to spot the TARDIS, "I…I'm sure you've got nothing to hide…" he trailed off as the Hatter grabbed his arm, nodding over to the other side of the room, "Although, frankly, that…" he pointed across the room, making the others look in the direction to see the TARDIS, just as the Hatter had told him, "Object…rather looks like wood to me".

He, the Hatter, and Donna walked over to the time machine, trying to seem professional as they heard Matella hiss at her husband from behind them, "I told you to get rid of it!"

"I only bought it today," Caecillius told them, hurrying after them as the Hatter placed a hand on doors, looking relived. Thank goodness they wouldn't have to stay much longer, or though, a voice in her head told her otherwise, after all, this was the Doctor.

"Ah, well," the Doctor shrugged, "Conveat emptor".

"Oh, you're Celtic," the other man's eyes widened slightly, nodding as the Hatter sent the Doctor a look, shaking her head, "That's lovely".

"What a funny bunch we are," the Time Lady remarked, exchanging looks with Donna, "Two Celtic's and a Greek. You know, that sounds like the punch line to a bad joke. One day, two Celtic's and a Greek walked into a bar…"

"I'm sure it's fine but I might have to take it off your hands for proper inspection," the Doctor quickly said, casting the Hatter a half worried, half amused look. Worried because he was afraid she would get him back for interrupting her joke, and amused because that was so like her.

"Although," Donna stepped forward, looking at the family and back to the Time Lords, "While we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus?"

"I don't know what you mean, Spartacus?" he replied, giving her a look as the Hatter sighed, looking down.

"Oh, this lovely family, mother and father and son…" she continued, looking at them pointedly, "Don't you think they should get out of town? What say you, Theta?"

"Why should we do that?" Caecilius asked, confused as the Doctor jumped at the Hatter being called his nickname, the Hatter sending him an apologetic smile.

"Well, the volcano for starters," Donna said, making it sound obvious.

"What?"

"Volcano".

"What-ano?"

"That great big volcano right on your doorstep," she gestured with her thumb behind her, towered the large mountain outside.

"Dear me, how very rude and shameful of us," the Hatter suddenly cut in, grabbing Donna and the Doctor's arms, "I do apologise, we haven't even greeted the household gods yet," she flashed them a apologetic smile, tugging her two friends away from the family and over to a small marble shrine set up at the back of the home, half concealed by two pillars beside it, "Oh, that was a close one," she breathed as she cast a quick glance behind her to the baffled family.

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, frowning as he looked at Donna, "They don't know what it is," he explained to her, "Vesuvius is just a mountain to them. The top hasn't blown off yet," he and the Hatter dipped their fingers into a small gold basin and sprinkled the frieze of the gods with water, "The Romans haven't even got a word for volcano. No one will. Not until tomorrow".

"Oh great," Donna rolled her eyes, glaring at them, "They can learn a new word…when they die".

"Donna, please stop it," the Hatter sighed, looking upset, "Believe me, if we could stop it then we would but we can't. It's a fixed-point".

"Listen, I don't know what sort of kids you've been flyin' around outer space, but you're not tell me to shut up," she hissed at them, sending the Hatter a look, "No matter how polite you are about it. That boy…" she nodded over to Caecilius's son, "How old he is he, sixteen? And tomorrow he _burns to death_".

The Hatter flinched severely, flashes of her own sons, her own daughters, and grandchildren flashed before her eyes. They may not have been around to die at the end of the war, but that didn't matter to her, they still died and she wasn't even there for them. The Doctor could try to tell her for the rest of her life that it wasn't her fault, that she couldn't have stopped it from happening, but a mothers main duty to their children was to protect them, and she failed that. In fact, she failed long before the war. The Doctor would disagree, he would argue that she did everything and anything to try and win her children back after her divorce, but she would always believe in both her hearts that it wasn't true.

The Doctor pulled the Hatter into his arms, or tried to as she flinched away from him and turned away to face the wall, looking like as if she was struggling to hold back tears from the glimpse of her face that he had seen. He turned back and glared at Donna, "And that's our fault?" he demanded angrily, trying to catch a glimpse of the Hatter's face.

"Right now, yes!" Donna shot back, forcing herself not to let her guilt get in the way right now. She knew that what she had said had hurt the Hatter, how exactly she wasn't completely sure but she had more important things to be worrying about, she'd make up for it later.

The Doctor opened his mouth to argue, but the Hatter turned back around, cutting him off, "That's enough from both of you," she told them sternly, looking more composed then before, but the Doctor could see that her hands were still shacking as they clutched her fits together in attempt to stop them from shacking, "We are running out of time and standing around arguing with each other is not going to help".

She grabbed the Doctor and Donna's hands, turning to pull them away when a servant entered the room, "Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the city government," he called to the room, all eyes turning to him.

A moment later, an older man walked inside, wearing what appeared to be a cloak draped over his right shoulder, hiding his arm from view. The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged curious looks with each other as the slowed there pace, eyeing the new man.

"Lucius, my pleasure as always," Caecilius smiled, stepped toward the man.

"Quintus, stand up," Metella hissed at her son, glaring at him until her stood, letting out a heavy sigh.

"A rare and great honour, Sir," Caecilius continued smiling, ignoring his wife and son behind him, "For you to come to my house," he held out his hand, only for it to be ignored.

"The birds are flying north…" the older man replied, "And the wind is in the west".

"Right…" Caecilius nodded slowly, looking slightly baffled but trying to make out he did understand, "Absolutely. That's good, is it?"

"Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow," Lucius continued, taking no noticed of the puzzled looks he was getting.

"There now, Metella, have you ever heard such wisdom?" Caecilius quickly turned to his wife, looking both awed and confused.

"Never," the women breathed, shaking her head, "It's an honour".

"Pardon me, Sir, I have guests," Caecilius informed Lucius, gesturing over to Donna, the Doctor, and the Hatter, making them stop and turned back around, "This is Theta, Spartacus, and, ah, Spartacus".

The Time Lords and Donna glanced at each other, giving them a small wave as Lucius looked at them, "A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind," he replied.

"But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark," the Doctor said, exchanging smiles with the Hatter, who was trying hard not to grin.

"Ah!" Lucius nodded, slowly looking impressed, "What is the dark other than an omen of the sun?"

"I concede that every sun must set…" the Hatter began, smiling pleasantly, after all, she and the Doctor had been playing word games with people for years.

"Ha!" the older man laughed, thinking he had won.

"…and yet the son of the father must also rise," the Time Lady finished, still smiling as she gestured to Caeilius and Quintus, both a father and a son.

"Damn," Lucius sighed, conceding defeat, reluctantly, "Very clever, Sir, Madam. Evidently a man and women of learning".

"Oh yes," the Doctor grinned, nudging the Hatter's side, look smug as the Hatter's pale cheeks tinged pink, "But don't mind us. Don't want to disturb the status quo".

Caecillius leaned toward Lucius, "He's Celtic, she's Greek," he whispered to him.

"Well, it's been lovely but we'll be going now," the Hatter smiled, turning around as the Doctor grabbed Donna's arm and began leading her over to the TARDIS.

"I'm not going," Donna told him quietly, shooting both Time Lords looks.

"It's ready, Sir," Caecillius said, turning to Lucius.

"Donna, I'm sorry but there's no other choice," the Hatter sighed sadly, keeping her voice low, "We _have_ to go".

"Well I'm not".

"The moment of revelation," they heard Caecillius say from behind them, the two Time Lords glanced over their shoulders just as he uncovered a small, square piece of marble with an odd design covering the front, "And here it is…" the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks, both eyeing the familiar looking design on the front of the stone, wondering how it was possible in that day and age, "Exactly as you specified. It pleases you, Sir?"

Lucius nodded, smiling as he took in the marble, "As the rain pleases the soil," he replied, looking very pleased indeed.

"Oh now that's…different," the Doctor remarked, walking back over as the Hatter followed, "What do you think, Hatter?" he turned to her.

"Very different," she nodded, narrowing her eyes at the stone, "Wonderfully craftsmanship," she quickly added, sending a small smile at Caecilius before frowning, "But I can't help but wonder who designed it in the first place?"

"My lord Lucius was very specific," Caecilius told them, looking proud of himself from the Hatter's comment about his work.

"Where'd you get the pattern?" the Doctor asked.

"On the rain and mist and wind," Lucius said, not exactly answering the question.

"Well that looks like a circuit," Donna commented, looking at the stone as the Hatter sent her a smile.

"Made of stone, some would say," the Time Lady agreed, sharing a smile with the Doctor.

"Do you mean you just dreamt that up?" Donna asked, looking at the older man.

"That is my job…as City Augar," Lucius told her.

"What's that then, like the mayor?" she questioned, looking slightly confused.

"Oh, ah, you must excuse our friend," the Doctor quickly cut in, casting a weary look back to the others as the Hatter nodded, "She's from…" both Time Lords looked at each other, answering at the same time, "Barcelona".

"Lovely place," the Hatter nodded, grabbing Donna's arm and pulling her slightly off to the side with the Doctor, "Please remember, Donna, that this is an age of superstition," she said softly to the other women so not to be over heard.

"Of _official_ superstition," the Doctor added, speaking just as quietly, "The augur is paid by the city to tell the future. 'The wind will blow from the west.' That's the equivalent to the 10:00 news".

"They're laughing at us," a faint, very weak sounding voice drifted through the room, making everyone turn and look up to see a pale, young girl with dark hair, looking very shaky, staring at them with slightly unfocused eyes as she struggled to stay standing, "Those three, they use words like trickers. They're mocking us".

"No, no," the Doctor and the Hatter quickly shook their heads, "We meant no offense".

"I'm sorry," Metella told the room, hurrying to the young women's side as the Hatter frowned, not liking how pale the girl looked, "My daughter's been consuming the vapors".

"By the gods, Mother!" Quintus exclaimed, looking almost disgusted by how ill his sister looked, "What have you been doing to her?"

"Not now, Quintus," Caecilic hushed him, giving him a small glare.

"But she's sick," he protested, "Just look at her".

"I gather I have a rival in this household," Lucius said, eyeing the young girl as he stepped closer to her, "Another with the gift".

"Oh, she's been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood," Metella informed him, proudly as the Hatter and the Doctor exchanged looks, curious about who this Sisterhood was, "They say she had remarkable visions".

"The prophecies of women are limited and dull," Luncius remarked, still eyeing the girl as the Hatter and Donna frowned at his words about women, "Only the men folk have the capacity for true perception".

"I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate," Donna shot him a glare, the Hatter following up with her own cold look. The Doctor looked in-between both women, very glad that he wasn't on the receiving end.

Suddenly, the ground began shacking.

"The mountain gods marks your words," Lucius glared, turning to the two women as things began settling down again, "I'd be careful if I were you".

"Consuming the vapors, you say?" the Doctor asked, frowning as he looked at the girl, cutting in before either Donna or the Hatter could say anything that could get them into trouble.

"They give me strength," the girl told them, sounding quit dazed.

"It doesn't look like it to me," the Doctor and the Hatter said in unison, both looking concerned.

"Is that your opinion…as doctors?"

"I'm sorry?" the Hatter blinked at the same time that the Doctor said, "I beg your pardon?" his eyes widening.

"Doctor," she replied, looking at the Doctor, "That's your name, just as she's known as the Hatter".

"How do you know that?" the Hatter frowned, exchanging looks with the Doctor.

"And you," the girl turned to Donna, ignoring there question, "You call yourself noble".

"Now then Evelina," Metella said quietly, gently taking her daughters arm, "Don't be rude".

"No, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, holding up his hand to show that it was okay, "Let her talk".

"You all come from so far away," Evelina continued, staring at them as she wobbled slightly as her mother kept an arm around her, trying to keep her upright.

"A female soothsayer in inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries," Lucius scoffed.

"Oh, not this time, Lucius," the Doctor looked over to him, "I reckon you've been out-soothsaid".

"Is that so…man from Gallifrey?" the older man said, turning to look at both Time Lords as their heads snapped in his direction, looking shocked, but it didn't appear to be over because a moment later, he looked at the Hatter, "And you…woman of Gallifrey?"

"What?" they both gasped, their eyes widening as the Doctor tried to stand in front of the Hatter, not liking this new turn in advents, but the Hatter batted him away, shotting him a look.

"Strangest of images," he continued, staring at the Time Lords, "Your home is lost in fire, is it not?"

"Doctor, Hatter, what are they doing?" Donna asked, fearfully as looked from the Time Lords stunned faces and back to Lucius.

"And you, daughter of…" Lucius turned to Donna, trailing off before saying, "London".

"How does he know that?" she demanded, taking a small step back as she stared at the older man.

"This is the gift of Pompeii," Lucius replied, taking no notice of Donna's fearful face, "Every single oracle tells the truth".

"But that's impossible," the Hatter frowned, shaking her head at what they were saying, "I mean, it's highly and very, very nearly impossible, but the point still stands. It simply can't be, I mean, I've met people who claim to be able to see into the future or the past," she gestured to herself and the Doctor, "Our _own_ people had people, one woman in particular who was known as the Visionary, but even those predictions and prophecies were based and carefully checked by scientific methods, and I can tell you for certain that not all of them were proven true".

"That maybe for you," Lucius gave her a cold look, almost looking smug, "But Pompeii has granted us the gift, and therefore we speak only the truth".

"But I still don't understand…" the Time Lady began when she was cut off.

"Doctor," the older man suddenly turned to face him, making the Doctor blink, "She is returning".

"Who is?" he frowned, looking confused as he glanced at the Hatter, hoping she would know, only to receive a equally confused look, "Who's she?" he asked as he looked back to the other man.

"And you, Daughter of London…" Lucius ignored him, looking back to Donna, "You have something on your back".

"What do you mean?" Donna breathed, subconsciously touching her shoulder, something that didn't go unnoticed by the Time Lords.

"And you…Daughter of Gallifrey," the older man suddenly turned to the Hatter, making her jump slightly, having hoped he wouldn't have any prophecies or whatever these really were for her, "The one thing that you never thought you would have again, will occur, but as quickly as it comes, you will lose it once more".

The Hatter's eyes widened, "What…" she cleared her throat, "What do you mean?" she gasped, not one-hundred percent sure as to what he was talking about.

"Even the word 'Doctor' and 'Hatter' are false," Evelina said, making everyone turn to her as she swayed more, "Your real names are hidden. They burn in the stars of the cascade of Medusa herself. You are a lord and lady. A lord…and lady…of time…" she breathed, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as she fainted.

"Evelina!" Metella cried, rushing to her daughter as the Doctor and the Hatter ran to Evelina's side, kneeling down beside her as they tried to see what they could do to help her.

…

The Hatter frowned from a couple of steps away with Donna beside her, both women watching as Metella sat by her daughters bedside while she cared for her, Evelina still unconscious and pale looking.

"She didn't mean to be rude," Evelina's mother told them, looking deeply concerned, "She's ever such a good girl," the Hatter smiled, nodding slowly along with her words, but at the next words, she lost her smile, "But when the gods speak through her…" Metella sighed, carefully unwrapping a piece of cloth from around Evelina's arm, like a bandage.

"What's wrong with her arm?" Donna asked, frowning as parts of the skin was slowly revealed, only it didn't look like normal skin, more grey and dry looking.

"An irritation of the skin," Metella replied as the Hatter moved closer, "She never complains, bless her. We bath it in olive oil every night".

"What is it?" the Hatter kneeled beside the bed, eyeing the patch of skin as Donna moved closer behind her, "Not to sound rude or anything…"

"No, it's alright," the older women shook her head, hesitating a moment as she looked in-between Donna and the Hatter, settling on the Hatter, "Evelina said you'd come from far away. Please, have you ever seen anything like it?"

The Hatter gave her a reassuring smile, knowing how desperate Metella must be feeling after witnessing her daughter collapse in front of her, no doubt having seen it many times before. She gently took the young girls arm and examined the greyish skin before softly running a finger over it, Donna gently doing the same.

"It's stone," Donna gasped, pulling away as if she had been shocked, staring at the patch of skin in amazement.

"No," the Time Lady shook her head, looking thoughtful as she carefully examined the skin, "It's more like…" she trailed off as her eyes winded and suddenly jumped to her feet, running from the room, ignoring Donna calling after her.

She dashed back to the main part of the house, quickly finding the Doctor chatting with Caecilius as they stood around one of the hypocaust, appearing to be examining it.

"Oh yes, we're very advanced in Pompeii," Caecilius was saying to the Doctor as the Hatter slowly approached them, mainly the Doctor, from behind, "In Rome, they're still using the old wood-burning furnaces, but we've got hot springs…leading from Vesuvius itself".

"And who, if I may ask, thought of that clever idea?" the Hatter asked, making both men jump, having not seen or heard her.

"Hatter," the Doctor breathed, looking relived as he stood and put an arm around her, pulling her closer to the hypocaust so she could see better.

"Sorry to interrupt like that," she smiled at both men, "But I just couldn't stop myself. Now, Caecilius I believe you were about to answer my question?"

"Oh yes," the older man nodded, getting back on topic, "The soothsayers after the great earthquake seventeen years ago," he explained, "An awful lot of damage but we rebuilt".

"Didn't you think of moving away?" the Doctor frowned, looking at him before shacking his head, "Oh, no, then again, San Francisco".

"That's a new restaurant in Naples, isn't it?" Caecilius looked in-between them, confused as the Hatter nudged the Doctor's side, giving him a small glare.

Below them, drifting up through the grating was a loud, almost animal like rumbling, "What's that noise?" both Time Lords asked, frowning as they looked down the grating, trying to see.

"Don't know," Caecilius told them, sighing, "Happens all the time. They say the gods of the Underworld are stirring".

"And let me guess…" the Hatter began, sighing slightly as she looked back to the older man, "After the earthquake, that was when the soothsayers began to start making sense?"

"Oh yes, very much so," he nodded, "I mean, they'd always been…shall we say 'imprecise?' but then…the soothsayers, the augurs, the haruspex…all of them, they saw the truth again and again. It's quite amazing. They can predict crops and rainfall with absolute precision".

The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks, both knowing that they needed to ask carefully before turning back to Caecilius, "Have they said anything about tomorrow?" the Doctor asked him, trying to sound casual.

"No," Caecilius shook his head, frowning, "Why should they? Why do you ask?"

"No, no, no reason," the Doctor replied, shaking his head as the Hatter let out a relived sigh, "Just asking. But the soothsayers…they all consume the vapors?"

"That's how they see".

The Doctor nodded, pulling out his glasses as the Hatter began thinking about what they had been told, "Ipso facto…" he leaned toward the hypocaust.

"Look, you…" Caecilius began but the Doctor cut him off.

"They're all consuming this," he said as he straightened up, holding tiny grains of rock that he let slip through his fingers, the Hatter watching them trickle away carefully.

"Dust?" Caecilius suggested, frowning slightly.

"Tiny particles of rock," the Doctor told him before tasting it, "They're breathing in Vesuvius," he said, his eyes widening slightly.

"_And not just that_," the Hatter shook her head, speaking into his mind so not to alarm Caecilius, "_It's not just any old rock, Doctor, it's Pyroviles"._

The Doctor's head snapped to look at her, "_Are you sure_?" he asked her.

"_Positive_," she nodded confidently, "_Everyone who is breathing in this dust is turning to stone, including Evelina. Now, I don't know why there here but I'm telling you that it's Pyroviles_".

"_I_ _believe you_," he told her quickly, giving her a small smile, "_How could I not believe you_?" she shot him a glare, making him quickly get back on topic, "_Alright, I think I have an idea on where to start investigating first_…"

_**First off, I'm so sorry about the wait, school work really does cut into my writing time, not to mention getting distracted listening to Chameleon Circuit, but then again, there are worse things to be distracted by :)**_

_**Secondly, a big congratulation to Peter Capaldi for becoming the 12**__**th**__** Doctor, I really can't wait to see why type of personality his Doctor's going to have, hopefully he still wears the bowtie, though. And you have no idea how weird it was to write this chapter while trying not to think too deeply about him being in it, and also being a future Doctor.**_

_**And thirdly, I am almost jumping off the walls I'm so excited, but my parents and I just got tickets to go and see Doctor who at the Proms next year when they come to Australia! I can't wait because we've got seats right near the stage.**_

_**Anyway, back to the chapter, I know there was hardly any Doctor/Hatter moments but I really couldn't see the two of them having any fluffy moments when they know what's going to happen to Pompeii, so apologise for that. Hmm, I wonder what that little moment of foretelling was with the Hatter? Well, I'm off to do some more homework. I hope you liked it, please review :)**_


	6. Chapter 6 The Fires of Pompeii, part 2

_**The Fires of Pompeii, part 2.**_

After the Doctor and the Hatter had crept away from sight, making sure that no one over heard them while they came up with a plan; the Hatter had left to check up on Evelina and Donna. When she reached the room, she was very pleased to find Evelina awake and feeling much better then she had before.

Once she had made sure herself that the young girl was alright and told Donna to keep an eye on her, she had hurried off to find the Doctor before putting their plan into action. It didn't take them to long until the first part was filled by finding Quintus lounging by one of the hypocaust, sipping wine from his goblet.

"Quintus, me old son…" the Doctor and the Hatter said as they approached him, both leaning casually against one of the pillars, "This Lucius Petrus Dextrus, where dose he live?"

"Nothing to do with me," the young man replied, sounding quite bored.

The Hatter stepped forward, walking toward him as she sent a wink at the Doctor that made him blush, "This Lucius Petrus Dextrus fellow…" she gave him a charming smile as she leant forward and produced a Roman coin from behind Quintus ear, making him sit up as he looked from the Hatter's smile and back to the coin, "Tell me, where does he live?"

"And if you wouldn't mind showing us?" the Doctor added, stepping up behind the Hatter as he put an arm around her waist, not liking the way the boy was looking at the Hatter, even if it was all for show he couldn't help but want everyone to know that he could finally tell people that he and the Hatter were together.

The Hatter gave him a look, knowing what he was doing before turning back to Quintus, "Please?"

…

After Quintus agreed to show them, he rushed off to get himself a torch before leading the two Time Lords through the streets of Pompeii, glancing over his shoulder every now and then to make sure they were both following them while they too looked over their shoulders, keeping an eye out.

Luckily it wasn't too long before they reached the right villa, stopping outside one of the windows, "Don't tell my dad," the boy pleaded with them, looking worried.

The Hatter gave him a comforting smile as she dashed passed him and climbed up onto a couple of barrels, opening the window shutters and looking inside, checking to see if the place was clear before climbing onto the windowsill, looking back to the Doctor as he followed after her.

"Only if you don't tell mine," the Doctor smiled slightly as the Hatter laughed before stepping through the window and onto a large chest that was placed under the window, turning back and helping the Hatter step through.

"Not to mention mine," the Time Lady added over her shoulder, jumping down beside the Doctor as she looked at him, grinning, "Can you imagine what my parents would have said? Goodness, it wouldn't have been pretty".

"Like you wouldn't have done it just to tease them," the Doctor nudged her shoulder, looking amused as he remembered how he had witnessed her in the past do something just because it would annoy her parents, surprisingly more so when she was an adult, mainly because she knew that they couldn't punish her for doing so.

"With your help, of course," she smiled, reaching up and ruffling his hair as she turned back around, squinting through the dark as the Doctor flicked the tip of her nose before turning back to the room, also squinting through the dark, the only light in the room coming from the hypocaust in the middle of the room.

The Doctor leaned back outside the window, holding out his arm, "Pass me that torch," he called to Quintus, who did as he was told and passed him the torch. The Doctor took it and began making his way around the room, looking all around as Quintus climbed through the window.

"Ooh," the Hatter said, catching both men's attention as she peeked around the edge of a curtain on the side of the room, "Now this an unexpected surprise, but then again, I suppose it's not that unexpected after all".

The Doctor gave her a questioning look, handing the torch back to Quintes as he went over the curtain and looked around the side of it, exchanging looks with the Hatter. They both grabbed a side of the curtain and pulled it down, revealing more of the slabs of marble with the odd, almost circuit like pattern sitting on a large stand.

"The liar," Quintus hissed angrily, "He told my father it was the only one".

"Well..." the Doctor commented, slipping his glasses on as he looked closer at the circuits, "Plenty of marble merchants in this town. Tell them all the same thing, get all the components from different places so no one can see what you're building".

"Which is what?" he asked, frowning slightly.

"The future…Doctor, Hatter," a voice said from behind them, making them turn to find Lucius standing in the doorway, two of his guards standing behind him, "We are building the future as dictated by the gods".

….

"Put this one…there…" the Doctor was muttering while he and the Hatter worked together to try and arrange the circuits together in the correct order, "This one…there," he paused and glanced at the Hatter, "Uh...I'll keep that one upside down…"

"When you we're a Time Tot, Doctor," the Hatter said, looking amused, "You weren't the type of child who would simply continue to find the correct shape cut out when you had tried to fit a triangle into a square, did you? No, I bet you were the type who would force the incorrect shape in and still try to tell everyone that they were wrong and that you were right, because everyone should know that a triangle is supposed to fit into a square".

The Doctor coughed, "I was two," he defended, blushing, "We all did less then logical things when we're kids. And what about you?"

"I assure you, sweetheart, that I never had a problem with telling my shapes apart," she smiled, ignoring the odd looks they were getting from the others in the room, and the less then pleased look on Lucius's face.

"Is that so?" he raised his eyebrows, "What about your imaginary friend who used to follow you around, or your teddy bear that you refused to get rid of, even after you had left school?"

"Anyway," the Hatter said loudly, turning bright red as she quickly took a step back from the circuits and looked at them, "Now then, what have we got here?"

"Enlighten me," Lucius replied, narrowing his eyes slightly at them.

"What?" the Doctor turned to him, raising his eyebrows, "The soothsayer doesn't know?"

"The seed may float on the breeze in any direction".

"Yeah, I knew you were gonna say that," he told him, turning to the Hatter, "Recognise it?"

"It's an energy converter," the Hatter answered, glancing at the circuits, "Like I said earlier, lovely craftsmanship".

"An energy converter of what?" Lucius asked, eyeing them both.

"Haven't the foggiest," she shrugged.

"Isn't that brilliant?" the Doctor asked, grinning, "I love not knowing, keeps me on my toes," he walked over to Lucius, standing beside him, "It must be awful, being a prophet. Waking up every morning, 'Is it raining? Yes, it is. I said so.' Takes all the fun out of life. But who designed this, Lucius?" he looked back of to the circuits, "Hmm? Who gave you these instructions?"

"I think you've babbled long enough," the older man glared at him.

"Lucius, really, tell us honestly," the Doctor tried, gesturing between himself and the Hatter who nodded, "We're on your side. We can help".

"You insult the gods!" Lucius shouted, "There can be only one sentence. At arms!" the two guards standing behind him stepped into the room, pulling out the swords and aiming them at them.

The Doctor stepped back, making sure to put himself in front of the Hatter as he pulled his glasses off. The Hatter rolled her eyes and side stepped him, her past self my not have minded the Doctor being so over protective of her, but this new body of hers was less inclined to go along with it without a good fight. She was a Time Lady; she didn't need the Doctor to constantly try to protect her when he should be focusing on protecting the other people around them. She could take care of herself.

"Oh, morituri te salutant," the Doctor said, smiling slightly to himself when he noticed the Hatter cover up her own smile.

"Celtic prayers won't help you now," Lucius told him.

"But it was them, Sir," Quintus spoke up, a note of pleading in his voice, "They made me do it. Sir Dextrus, please don't…"

"Come on now, Quintus…" the Doctor and the Hatter scolded lightly, "Dignity in death," the Doctor turned back to Lucius, "I respect your victory, Lucius. Shack on it?" he held out his hand, but the other man mealy glanced at it, "Come on," he wiggled his fingers, raising his eyebrows slightly, "Dying wish?" he added, but Lucius still didn't take his hand.

Suddenly, the Hatter darted forward and grabbed Lucius right arm, tucked under his cloak, pulling it. The sound of stone being broken sounded as the Hatter jumped backwards, holding Lucius arm, revealing it to be made completely out of stone as the mad cried out in pain.

"But he's…" Quintus gasped, looking stunned.

"Show us," the Doctor said as the Hatter handed him the stone arm.

Lucius glared at them, throwing his cloak over what was left of his shoulder to revel a stump of a stone arm, "The work of the gods," he told them.

"He's stone!" Quintus exclaimed, still looking shocked.

"'Armless enough, though," the Doctor grinned, laughing slightly as the Hatter shook her head at him, "Whoop!" he chucked the stone arm back to Lucius, the man only just catching it as the Doctor grabbed the Hatter's hand and made for the window, "Quintus!" the young man threw his torch at one of the guards and quickly hurried after the Time Lords as they climbed up to the window. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled his sonic out, aiming it at the circuits, knocking them over, "Out! Out! Out! Hurry!" they jumped down, landing in the street, "Run!" they turned and started running as fast they could down the street, dashing around corners, and only coming to a stop when they could longer hear the guards chasing after them.

"That was close," the Hatter sighed, looking back behind her to see if they were still following them, "But at least it looks like we've lost them".

"Nice little bit of Allons-y," the Doctor grinned, patting Quintus's back, "I think we're all right".

"But his arm, Doctor, Hatter…" Quintus breathed, shaking his head, "Is that what's happening to Evelina?"

"Not if we can stop it, Quintus," the Hatter told him firmly, "We're…" but she was suddenly cut off by a loud booming nose, echoing through the streets.

"What's that?" the Doctor wondered, frowning as they turned around, looking down the street they had just come from.

"The mountain?" Quintus suggested, fearfully as the sound continued.

"Not quite," the Hatter frowned, shaking her head as she listened closely, "It's close…" the ground around them shook slightly, "It sounds like…footsteps".

"It can't be," Quintes shook his head.

"Footsteps underground!" the Doctor's eyes widened as he grabbed the Hatter's hand tightly, pulling her closer to him.

"What is it?" Quintus breathed, "What is it?"

"Never mind that!" the Hatter shook her head, grabbing the boys arm, "Come on!" they turned and quickly started running down the street, vents blowing there tops off as they passed, steam blowing into the air around them as they continued running.

…

The Doctor, the Hatter, and Quintus quickly made their way back to the villa, running inside to see that everyone had gathered inside the main room, "Caecilius!" the Doctor and the Hatter shouted, running into the room, "All of you, get out!"

"Doctor, Hatter, what is it?" Donna asked, looking worried.

"I think we're being followed," he replied just as the grill of one of the hypocaust blew into the air, the Hatter quickly put herself in front of Donna as the Doctor did the same to her, "Just get out!"

The Doctor and the Hatter tried to usher everyone toward the door just as the ground around the hypocaust started cracking, and a loud growl echoed up. Everyone froze, unable to look away as a large creature, appearing to be made out of stone and magma began forcing its way up through the ground and into the room, almost reaching the ceiling.

"The gods are with us," Evelina breathed, staring in awe at the creature.

"Quintus!" the Doctor called, to the room, "All of you, get water! Donna!"

Quintus, Donna, the Hatter, and a couple of savants quickly ran outside, searching for things to use to hold the water in

"Blessed are we to see the gods," one of the savants breathed, steeping forward, but before the Doctor intervene, the creature breathed fire at the savant, burning him to ash right before their eyes.

"Talk to me!" the Doctor shouted, running forward with his hands up, "That's all I want! Talk to me. Don't hurt these people. Talk to me. I'm the Doctor".

Donna and the Hatter returned to the room, both holding a bucket filled with water, but as they hurried into the room, both woman were grabbed from behind, and there months covered before they could shout, that of course, didn't stop Donna from trying while the Hatter focused on where they were being taken so she could tell the Doctor once things had settled down. Hopefully before he was incinerated, otherwise she was going to kill him herself.

"Doctor!" Donna tried to shout, but her voice was muffled, "Doctor!"

The Hatter sighed, not even bothering to struggle against the people holding tightly as they forced her and Donna away from the villa, knowing that it would be unless to try. She only hoped the Doctor would noticed soon that they were missing and be able to home in on her mind, if not, then he was most certainly going to be in a great deal of trouble.

…

"You have got to be kidding me," Donna hissed as she was tied to a sacrificial altar in the Sisterhoods temple, staring up at one of the priestess who was preparing to stab her with a dagger while the Hatter was tied to a similar altar beside her, looking strangely amused by everything.

"I don't believe they are, Donna," the Time Lady remarked, sounding calm. She could feel the Doctor coming closer to them, she knew that he would never let someone hurt either her or Donna, Donna on the other hand…well; she was starting to wonder if she should be concerned for the Sisterhood.

"The false prophet will surrender both her blood and her breath," the priestess announced to the room before pointed at the Hatter, "And so will the nonbeliever".

"I feel flattered," the Hatter said dryly, shifting slightly as the ropes tied around her wrist dug into her skin, luckily she couldn't feel the ropes around her ankles because of her boots, "You know, this is all very nice but I would be grateful if you loosen the ropes, I think you're starting to cut off my circulation".

"Silence," the priestess commanded, the Hatter rolled her eyes, wishing she could use her hands to mime zipping her mouth closed.

"I'll surrender you in a minute," Donna spat, "Don't you dare!"

"You too will be silent!"

"You might have eyes on the back of your hands but you'll have eyes in the back of your head by the time I finish with you!" Donna shouted, "Let me…go!"

"This prattling will cease…forever!" the priestess raised the dagger above her head, preparing to bring it down, when a very familiar voice interrupted.

"Oh, that'll be the day," the Sisterhood gasped, looking scandalised as they all turned around to see the Doctor leaning against one of the pillars. He smiled faintly and wiggled his fingers at the Hatter, "Sorry I'm late honey, had a little bit of work to do back at the office".

"Oh, good, your just in time," the Hatter remarked, flashing him a bright smile, "Sorry about dinner being a bit late, but as you can see I'm a little…" she tried to flex her wrist, "Tied up at the moment".

"Oi!" Donna shouted, glaring at them both, "Would the two of you stop with the flirting and focus for five seconds? Get me out of here!"

"Sorry, Donna," the Hatter said apologetically, blushing.

"No man is allowed to enter the Temple of the Sibyl," the priestess who was still holding the dagger gasped, looking horrified as she and the other members of the Sisterhood stared at the Doctor.

"Oh, that's alright, just us girls," he replied, shrugging it off as he walked down the stairs, pulling his sonic out and somehow managing to aim it at the ropes tying the Hatter's hands without the Sisterhood noticing as he talked, "Do you know, we met the Sibyl once," he told them, making sure to distract them so they wouldn't notice the Hatter untying herself, "Hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance a tarantella. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me. I said it wouldn't work, how could it when I have the Hatter?" he sent the Hatter a wink, one which she shook her head and continued working on untying Donna's bounds, "She said, 'I know.' Well, she would," he stopped by Donna's altar, looking down at her while the Hatter struggled with the ropes. The Sisterhood certainly knew how to tie a knot, "You alright there?" he asked her.

"Oh, never better," Donna said sarcastically, watching the Hatter as she tried to undo the ropes around her wrists first.

"I like the toga," the Doctor remarked, eyeing the purple dress she was now wearing before glancing playfully at the Hatter, "Where's your toga, Hatter?"

The Hatter rolled her eyes and hit his arm, "Focus, Doctor, and maybe, just maybe I'll wear a toga for you".

"Stop it!" Donna said loudly before the Doctor could reply, "Now get these ropes off me!"

"Sorry," the Doctor gave her a slightly sheepish look, taking his sonic back out of his pocket and flashing it at the ropes on her wrists and ankles, making them fall away.

"Thank you," she nodded, smiling slightly at the Hatter as she helped her up. Once she was standing, she turned to the Doctor and held up a part of the frayed rope, "You like the dress but what about the rope?"

"Eh," he almost appeared to think about it for a moment before answering, "Not so much".

"What magic is this?" the priestess demanded, staring at the Doctor and the Hatter, looking shocked.

"Allow me to tell you something about the Sibyl," the Hatter said loudly as she turned to the Sisterhood, looking cold as she crossed her arms across her chest, "The founder of this religion. Now listen carefully, ladies, because you have threated the life of my friend and if there is one way to make me angry then that is it! I meet the Sibyl, she was a good woman, and she would be ashamed of you. Each and every one of you would have been breaking her heat to be forced to watch while her wisdom, her insight was turned sour. Is this how you spread her word? Her knowledge? On the blade of a knife?"

"Yes…" the priestess said, "A knife that now welcomes you!" she raised her knife above her head, preparing to strike the Hatter.

The Doctor grabbed the Hatter and pulled her behind her, putting himself in the way of the knife before the Hatter could stop him, but before the priestess could strike him, a weak voice drifted through the room, "Show me this man and woman," the voice called, weakly.

The priestess quickly turned and knelt on the floor, facing a red, sheer curtain behind them behind which they could faintly make out the shape of a person.

"High Priestess," the priestess still holding the knife said, looking toward the curtain, "The strangers would defy us!"

"Let me see," the High Priestess ordered, leaving no room for argument, "These two are different," the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks, "They carry starlight in their wake".

"Ah, very perceptive," the Doctor remarked, moving toward the curtain with the Hatter and Donna beside him, "Where do these words of wisdom come from?"

"The gods whisper to me," the High Priestess replied.

"Oh, I think they've done a lot more than just that," the Hatter sighed sadly, shaking her head. Humans always seemed to have a way of getting themselves into trouble, but then again, so did Time Lords.

"Ah, might we beg audience, look upon the High Priestess?" the Doctor asked, looking around at the Sisterhood.

Two priestesses stepped forward and pulled the curtains apart, revealing the High Priestess to be sitting in the middle of a bed, her body almost completely turned to stone.

"Oh my God!" Donna gasped, her mouth dropping, "What's happened to you?"

"The heavens have blessed me," the High Priestess told them.

"If we might…" the Doctor gestured to himself and the Hatter to come closer. The High Priestess raised her arm, giving her consent. The Doctor and the Hatter walked over to her, kneeling on the floor, and gently touching her arm, "Does it hurt?"

"It is necessary," she replied, a little too quickly.

"Oh, I don't know about that," the Hatter frowned, looking concerned, "Who told you it was necessary in the first place?"

"The voices".

"Is that what's happening to Evelina?" Donna asked from behind them, looking at the Sisterhood, "Is this what's gonna happen to all of you?"

The Priestess walked over to Donna, holding out her arm to show her that the skin under the sleeve of her robes was turning to stone, "The blessings are manifold," she told Donna.

"They're stone…" Donna breathed, gently touching the woman's arm, and looking up to the Doctor and the Hatter who were both watching.

"Exactly," the Doctor stood, walking back over to Donna with the Hatter, "The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts".

"But why?" the Hatter added, shaking her head, "I don't understand it".

"This word…" the High Priestess said, staring at the Time Lords, "This image in your mind, this 'volcano,' what is that?"

"More to the point, why don't you know about it?" the Doctor frowned, "Who are you?"

"High Priestess of the Sibylline".

"No, that's not we mean," the Hatter told her, "We're talking about the creature that lives inside of you".

"The thing that's seeding itself into a human body," the Doctor continued after the Hatter, eyeing the High Priestess, "In the dust in the lungs…taking over the flesh and turning into…what?"

"Your knowledge is impossible," she gasped, shaking her head at them.

"Oh, but you can read our minds," the Doctor said as the Hatter strengthened her mental barriers, she usually kept them at half strength for the Doctor, but the last thing she wanted was for the possible Pyrovile inside the High Priestess to managed to get inside her mind, "You know it's not. I demanded you tell us who you are!"

"We…are…" her voice began changing, sounding like a deeper echo of another person speaking, "…awaking!"

"The voice of the gods!" the priestess behind them announced to the room.

"Words of wisdom, words of power," the Sisterhood began chanting, rocking backwards and forwards, still kneeling, "Words of wisdom, words of power".

"Name yourself!" the Doctor shouted, "Planet of origin, galactic coordinators, species designation according to the universal retification of the Shadow Proclamation".

"We…are…rising!" the High Priestess called, her voice still holding the echo in it as she climbed off the bed.

"Tell us your name!" the Doctor and the Hatter shouted in unison.

The High Priestess threw her hood on her robe back, "Pyrovile!" she shouted as the Time Lords backed away.

"Pyrovile," the Sisterhood chanted this time, "Pyrovile".

"What's a Pyrovile?" Donna asked, moving closer to the Doctor and the Hatter.

"You're looking at one," the Hatter told her, keeping her eyes on the High Priestess, "Well, one that's growing inside her and slowly taking over everything that makes her human. She's still in the halfway stage".

"Well, and that turns into…" Donna trailed off, already having a pretty good idea what the answer was going to be.

"That thing in the villa," the Doctor nodded, also staring at the High Priestess in case she tried anything and he needed to get Donna and the Hatter out of the way, "Was an adult Pyrovile".

"And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor, Hatter!" the High Priestess cried, pointing at them.

"I warn you…I'm armed," the Doctor reached inside his pocket and pulled out a yellow water pistol, holding it as if it was a proper gun. If this had been any other time, the Hatter wouldn't have been able to stop herself from laughing, "Donna, Hatter, get that grill open," he cocked his head to the side in the direction of the grill, not looking away from the High Priestess.

"What are…" Donna started, staring at him as if he had gone mad, well, even more mad than usual.

"Never mind that, Donna," the Hatter shook her head, grabbing the red heads hand and dragging her over to the grill, unknowingly to the Doctor, swiping his sonic as she purposely walked closer to him then what she need to as she passed him, grateful that he seemed to be distracted by the High Priestess, but then again, you could never tell with him. She did spend almost nine centuries thinking he only liked her as a friend.

"What the Pyrovile doing here?" the Doctor asked, watching Donna and the Hatter from the corner of his eye kneel beside the hypocaust, setting to work on it with his sonic. He knew the Hatter had thought she had stolen it from him without noticing, but how could he possibly not notice when the woman he was madly in love with moved closer to him? Even if it was just for the sonic.

"We fell from the heavens," the High Priestess told him, "We fell so far and so fast we were rendered into dust".

"Right," the Doctor nodded, "Creatures of stone shatter on impact. When was that, seventeen years ago?"

"We have slept beneath for thousands of years".

"Okay, so seventeen years ago woke you up and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourself, but why the psychic powers?"

"We opened their minds and found such gifts".

"Yeah, okay, fine," the Doctor nodded, beginning to get aggravated by the lack of proper answers, "You forced yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond. I get that. I get that. Yeah, but…seeing the future, that is way beyond psychic, you can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?"

"Doctor, we've got it open!" the Hatter called to him, managing to throw the grill open with Donna's help.

"Now get down!" the Doctor shouted back over his shoulder, still staring the Pyrovile down with his pistol aimed.

"What, down there?" Donna stared at him.

"Don't argue, Donna," the Hatter sighed, nudging her toward the exposed hypocaust, "Please, just do as we say and later, when this is all over, you can yell and hit the Doctor and I as much as you want".

"I'll hold you to that," Donna told her, half serious.

The Doctor shook his head at them, trying not to smile as he continued eyeing the High Priestess, "Why can't this lot predict the volcano?" he frowned at the Sisterhood, glancing around at them, "Why is it being hidden?"

"Sisters, I see into his mind!" the priestess who almost sacrificed Donna and the Hatter shouted, "The weapon is harmless".

"Oh, wonderful," the Hatter sighed, rolling her eyes at him, "Of all the times to let your mental shields down, Doctor…"

The Doctor shot her a slightly sheepish look, trying to shrug it off as he turned back to the High Priestess, "Yeah, but it's got a sting!" he pressed the trigger on the water gun and sprayed the High Priestess with it, causing her to cry out in agony, "Get down there!"

Donna quickly stopped fighting against the Hatter who had been trying to get her to go down the hypocaust and jumped down it, quickly followed by the Hatter who landed gracefully beside her, and next the Doctor.

"You fought her off with a whiter pistol!" Donna stared at the Doctor as she pulled herself up from her less then graceful landing, "I bloody _love_ you".

"And that's not even half the seemingly impossible things he's done," the Hatter laughed, "He once, back in school somehow managed to…"

"Moving along!" the Doctor cut in quickly, making the Hatter laugh again as he turned and started down the tunnel, "This way!"

"Where are we going now?" Donna sighed, following after the Time Lords as she made a mental note to get the Hatter to finish her story later.

"Into the volcano," both Time Lords replied calmly.

Donna gasped, "No way," she quickly shook her head, looking panicked.

"Yes way," the Doctor nodded, grinning as he twirled the water pistol around his finger, "Appian way".

The Hatter gave Donna a comforting look as they followed after the Doctor as he led them towards the heart of Vesuvius, still keeping the water pistol out at the ready in case the need should arise again to use it.

"But if it's aliens setting off the volcano, doesn't that make it alright?" Donna asked them after a moment of silence, clearly having been thinking about since finding out that aliens were involved, "For you to stop it?"

"Still part of history," the Doctor replied from just ahead.

"Well, I'm history too," she pointed out, "You saved me in 2008. You saved us all," she frowned at them, "Why is that different?"

"Something things are fixed points," the Hatter sighed, looking sad, "Others are in flux, and I regret very deeply to say that Pompeii is a fixed point in history".

"How do you know which is which?"

"Because that's how we see the Universe," the Doctor told her very seriously, stopping and facing her as the Hatter did the same, "The Hatter and I. Every waking second, we can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not".

"That's one of the worst parts of being a Time Lord, Donna," the Hatter said softly, shaking her head sadly as she blinked back tears in her eyes as she tried to block out what she knew was about to happen, what she and the Doctor both knew couldn't be stopped, "It's the curse that we, the Doctor and I as Time Lords must be forced to live with throughout every day of our existence. And we…" she placed a hand on the Doctor's arm, "Are the only two people left in the entire Universe who will ever understand how much pain that courses us".

Donna hesitated, taking aback by the Hatter's words but she quickly shook her head, "How many people died?" she called after the Time Lords as they started walking back down the tunnel.

"Stop it!" the Doctor shot her a glare as the Hatter flinched.

"How many people died?" she demanded, not backing down as the Doctor turned back to her, the Hatter keeping her face turned away as she tried to compose herself.

"Twenty thousand," he said, trying to keep his emotions from his voice as he noticed the Hatter wiping tears from her cheeks, knowing how badly this was affecting them both with the loss of their own people.

"Is that what you can see, Doctor, Hatter?" Donna asked, "All twenty thousand?"

"Yes," the Hatter breathed, her voice shaking slightly.

"And you think that's alright, do you?"

The Hatter's eyes snapped to hers, making her flinch back at the look on her face, but before either woman could say anything, a loud screech echoed through the tunnel.

"They know we're here!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing the Hatter's hand, "Come on!" they turned and ran down the tunnel, only just managing to avoid pockets of flam, still running until they reached a large cavern were adult Pyroviles were walking around. They quickly ducked behind a couple of rocks, peeking around the side, "It's the heart Vesuvius".

"And we're right in the middle of it," the Hatter added, looking around the room.

"There's tons of 'em," Donna gasped, staring at the Pyroviles.

"That's the thing about Pyroviles, they usually stay in groups together," the Hatter sighed before frowning, narrowing her eyes, "Oh, but what's that?" she pointed off into the distance were they could just make out a strange door on the other side of the cave.

"Hmm," the Doctor frowned, pulling out a small collapsible telescope and looking through it to look closer at the door.

"Well, you'd better hurry up and think of something," Donna said to them, "Rocky IV's on its way".

"That's how they arrived…" the Doctor muttered, catching sight of the interior of the capsule like ship as the Hatter nodded slowly, trying to put it all together, "Or what's left of it," he glanced at the Time Lady, "Escape pod? Prison ship? Gene bank?"

"It could be any of those things," the blonde nodded, looking thoughtful as the Doctor collapsed the telescope, tucking it away, "But by the look of the technology, I'm going to guess escape pod".

"But why do they need a volcano?" Donna asked, frowning, "Maybe…it erupts and they launch themselves back in space or something".

"No, it's worse than that," the Doctor and the Hatter shook their heads.

"How can it be worse?" she stared at them, her eyes widening at the idea as one of the Pyrovile roared, "It's getting closer," she exchanged looks with the Time Lords.

"Heathens!" they heard someone shouting and looked over to see Lucius standing on a high ridge off to the side of the cavern, glaring at them, "Defilers! They would desecrate your temple, my lord gods!"

"Come on!" the Doctor called, grabbing the Hatter's hand tightly, racing across the cavern.

"We can't go in there!" Donna shouted after them as she followed them, realising that they were heading toward the pod.

"Well, we can't exactly go back!" the Hatter called back over her shoulder, shrugging slightly.

"Crush them!" Lucius ordered, looking as if he was having the time of his life with the very idea of killing the Time Lords and Donna, "Burn them!"

The tro suddenly jumped back as one of the Pyrovile's rose in front of them, blocking there path as it opened its mouth and roared at them. The Doctor quickly pulled his water pistol back out of his pocket and began firing at the creature, causing it to cry out in pain and try to shy away from them as they made another break for the pod.

"There is nowhere to run, Children of Gallifrey…" Lucius shouted after them, glaring at them, "And daughter of London!"

As they reached the pod, the Doctor and the Hatter stopped and looked back at Lucius, "Now then, Lucius," the Doctor called to him, "My lord Pyrovillian…don't get yourselves in a lave," he grinned, looking back to Donna and the Hatter to see them staring back at him, shaking their heads, "In a lava…no?"

"No," Donna said quickly, looking far from impressed.

The Hatter nodded along with Donna, "Really, Doctor, is this the right time to be making dad jokes?" she asked him, but she would never admit to herself or to anyone else that she was struggling to stop herself looking amused.

"No," the Doctor sighed, turning back to Lucius and calling, "But if I might beg the wisdom of the gods before we perish…once this new race of creatures is complete…then what?"

"My masters will follow the example of Rome itself," the man replied as the Pyrovile began walking toward the tro, crushing boulders as they went, "An almighty empire, bestriding the whole of civilisation".

"But if you've crashed…" Donna frowned, "And you've got all this technology, why don't you just go home?"

"The heaven of Pyrovillia is gone," he told them.

"'Gone?'" the Hatter repeated, frowning. Why did it feel like there was a pattern building up all around them? As if there was something bigger happening but they just couldn't see it yet, "I don't understand. What do you mean 'gone,' and where to?"

"It was taken. Pyrovillia is lost. But there is heat enough in this world for our new species to rise".

"Yeah, we should warn you," the Doctor cut in, "It's 70 percent water out there".

"Water can boil and everything will burn, Doctor, Hatter!" Lucius shouted, laughing.

The Doctor sighed, exchanging grim looks with the Hatter as he tucked the pistol away, "Then the whole planet is at stake," he nodded sadly, "Thank you, that's all we needed to know".

He suddenly turned and grabbed the Hatter's hand again as she grabbed Donna's arm, quickly pulling both woman inside the pod and flashing his sonic at the door, sealing themselves inside.

"Could we be any more trapped?" Donna groaned as the Time Lords focused on the controls when the temperature suddenly began rising, the air around them turning thick with the heat, "Little bit hot…" she breathed, forcing the urge to fan herself away.

"The energy converted takes the lava," the Hatter was saying more to the Doctor then Donna while they examined the controls, "And then uses the power to create a fusion matrix which wields Pyrovile to human".

"Now it's complete, they can convert millions," the Doctor finished, staring at the controls as his mind tried desperately to try and think of something to do that might stop this, but one glance at the Hatter's face told him everything.

"Well, can you change it…with these controls?" Donna asked, looking in-between them.

"'Course we can, but don't you see?" he sighed, turning to her as the Hatter kneeled on the floor and began examining it from top to bottom, hoping to find something they had missed, "That's why the soothsayer can't see the volcano. There is no volcano".

"Vesuvius is never going to erupt," the Hatter continued, straightening so she could face them, "The Pyroviles are stealing all its power. They're going to use it to take over the world".

"But you can change it back," Donna tried again, not understanding why they both still looked so grim. Shouldn't they be overjoyed?

"Well, we can avert the system, so the volcano will blow them up, yes," the Doctor nodded, talking fast, "But…" he paused, taking a deep breath as he looked back at Donna, "That's the choice, Donna. It's Pompeii or the world".

Donna's eyes widened in horror, "Oh my God…" she gasped, glancing at the Hatter in the hope of seeing her shaking her head, but instead the Time Lady had her eyes closed painfully, her hands clinched at her sides as they shook visibly.

"If Pompeii is destroyed, then it's not just history, it's me," the Doctor said heavily, feeling sickened as he avoided look at either woman's eyes, feeling slightly fearful at the thought of what he may find in them, "I make it happen".

"No," the Hatter shook her head, grabbing his hand tightly as she forced him to look at her, her voice sounding strong and determined, "Tonight, right now, it's _we_ who make this happen, not just_ you_. You and I, Doctor, just as it's always been, and it's no different now. I won't let you go through all the pain and the burden on you own. Not again, my sweetheart".

"But…" he tried to argue but she quickly silenced him.

"No, I made my choice a long time ago," she told him, "Wherever you go, so do I".

"But the Pyrovile are made of rock," Donna said after a moment of silence passed between the Time Lords, "Maybe they can't be blown up".

"Vesuvius explodes with the force of 24 nuclear bombs," the Doctor explained, snapping out of his thoughts as he and the Hatter turned back to the machinery, preparing for what they had to do, "_Nothing_ can survive it," he looked in-between both woman, "Certainly not us".

"Never mind us," Donna said softly, shaking her head as the Hatter gave her a weak smile as she put her free arm around the red headed woman while keeping her other hand in the Doctor's.

The Doctor stared at them both before taking a small step back, looking down at the lever in front of them, "Push this lever and it's all over," he placed his hands on top of it, not pressing down yet, "Twenty thousand people".

The Hatter took a deep breath, holding back a sob as she stepped forward and covered the Doctor's hand with her own over the lever, "Together," she whispered to him, meeting his eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Together," Donna repeated, having heard as she to stepped forward and placed her hands over there's. They stared at each other for a moment before pressing the lever down.

Instantly everything began shaking all around them, throwing them all around the small pod before they suddenly felt the pod being ejected out of the erupting volcano. Donna was screaming as she crashed into the walls, sometimes even colliding with the two Time Lords until everything suddenly just stopped, sending the tro crashing to the floor as the door opened. Glancing at each other, they quickly climbed out.

"It was an escape pod," the Doctor said as he looked at the pod before turning to the Hatter, "You were right".

"Of course I was right," she shook her head at him, wincing slightly as she rubbed her elbow, "I'm always right, sweetheart, if I do say so myself".

"I don't want to interrupt but aren't you forgetting about the erupting volcano?" Donna cut in, shooting them looks as she pointed up to the mountain behind them with ash and lava already starting to spew out of the top.

"Good point," the Doctor nodded, his eyes widening slightly as he grabbed the Hatter's hand, and took off running back toward the city with Donna right on their heels.

By the time they had reached the city, people were already running around the streets, panicking as the smoke and ash began filling the air, blocking out the sun while the ash began falling from the sky like snow, only deadlier. It wouldn't be long now before people all around them would begin suffocating, there lungs destroyed by the ash and heat.

"Don't!" Donna cried as they ran through the market place, trying to stop people as they ran passed, "Don't go to the beach! Don't go to the beach, go to the hills! Listen to me! Don't go to the beach, it's not safe! Listen to me…" she trailed off as she turned around and noticed a little boy standing among the chaos, crying and looking lost. Without thinking twice, she ran over to him and knelt in front of him, "Come here!"

But before Donna could pull the little boy away, a young woman ran past and snatched him away, "Give him to me!" the boy's mother shouted before running off with the boy.

Seeing the devastated look on Donna's face, the Hatter broke free of the Doctor's hand and run over to her, wrapping an arm around her, "Come on, Donna," she said softly, pulling her away firmly but gently back toward were the Doctor was standing, "We need to go. There's nothing we can do".

They turned and continued running down the street until they reached Caecilius's villa were they found the family huddled together by the back wall, crying.

"Gods save us, Doctor, Hatter!" Caecilius called as he looked up and saw them.

The Doctor paused, staring at the family before heading over to the TARDIS, pulling the Hatter along with him while she tried not to look at Caecilius and his family, unable to see how terrified they were.

"You can't!" Donna shouted after them, chasing after them, "Doctor, Hatter, you can't!" she ran after them as they entered the console room, finding the Doctor already at the controls as he prepared to disappear while the Hatter sat on the jump seat, her head in her hands, "You can't just leave them!" she cried, tears streaming down her face.

"Don't you think we've done enough?" the Doctor snapped, not looking up from the controls, "History's back in place and everyone dies".

"You've got to go back!" Donna shouted as she tried to stop herself from sobbing, "Doctor, Hatter, I am telling you, take this thing back!"

The Doctor didn't answer, simply turning and releasing the TARDIS break, and dematerializing.

"It's not fair," Donna breathed, shaking.

"No, it's not," he nodded, his face turned away from her.

"But your own planet…" she tried again, "It burned".

"That's just it," the Doctor's head snapped up as he stared at her, his eyes burning into hers, "Don't you see, Donna? Can't you understand? If we could go back and save them then we would, but we can't. We can never go back! We can't! We just…can't!" his voice grew softer, "We can't!"

"Just someone," Donna pleaded, "Please. Not the whole town. Just save _someone_," the Doctor shook his head, turning away from her as the Hatter slowly raised her head.

"Donna's right, Doctor," she said softly, nodding to herself, "It can't hurt the time line's to badly if we save someone who we already know that they survive…"

"What do you mean?" Donna frowned at her.

"Around about this time in Rome there was a man called Caecilius who was known quite well for being able to trade with Egypt," the Hatter replied with a small smile, "Like I kept telling you guys, he's a wonderful craftsmen".

The Doctor stared her for a moment before he jumped back to the controls and made the TARDIS reappear in Caecilius's villa. He sent the Hatter a small wink as he ran over to the doors and threw them open, holding out his hand to the family, "Come with us".

Caecilius gasped and stared him, slowly raising his hand and grasping the Doctor's, allowing himself and his family to be pulled inside the strange blue box.

….

High above the city of Pompeii on a hill top, the Doctor, the Hatter, Donna, Caecilius, and his family watched while the once beautiful city was engulfed by ash and smoke, killing and destroying everything in its path. Donna and the family stood side by side with tears running down their faces, the Time Lords standing slightly behind them wrapped in each other's arms while they could only watch.

"It is never forgotten, Caecilius," the Doctor told the family after a moment, hoping to provide some comfort as the man looked at them, "Time passes, men move on, and the stories fade, but one day…Pompeii _will_ be found again…in thousands of years…and _everyone_ will remember you".

"And things will get easier," the Hatter added, giving them comforting looks, "You will never forget this day for as long as you all live but it will get easier. The pain that you are going through, it will get better but only if you stay together as a family. Life's too short, don't you agree?"

"What about you, Evelina?" Donna asked, turning to the girl, "Can you see anything?"

Evelina shook her head, "The visions are gone," she told them.

"The explosion was so powerful, it cracked open a rift in time," the Doctor explained, the Hatter nodding along with him, "Just for a second. That's what gave you the gift of prophecy. It echoed back into the Pyrovillian alternative. But not anymore. You're free".

"Congratulations," the Hatter gave the girl a small smile, tipping the brim of her hat at her.

"But tell me…" Metella began, looking over to him and the Hatter, "Who are you, Doctor, Hatter…with your words…and your temple containing such size within?"

"Oh, we were never here," the Doctor shrugged, giving her a smile.

"Don't tell anyone," the Hatter nodded, lifting a finger to her lips and giving the family a wink, "It'll be our little secret".

"The great god Vulcan must be enraged," Caecilius said as he stepped forward, staring at the burning city, "It's so volcanic. It's like some sort of…volcano…" his voice broke, "All those people…" he trailed off, unable to go on as he turned back to his wife and hugged her, Quintus taking his sister's hand.

The Doctor and the Hatter watched the family for a moment before turning and slipping away, back inside the TARDIS as Donna gave the family one last look before joining the Time Lords.

"Thank you," she said quietly to them as they took off into the Time Vortex.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, looking up at her as the Hatter leant on the railing beside him, "You were right," he glanced at the Hatter to see her nodding, smiling at Donna, "Welcome aboard".

"Yeah," Donna nodded before breaking into a smile.

"Oh, and before I forget, Donna," the Hatter stepped forward, pulling the other woman into a hug before stepping back again, "Thank you," she smiled, "If you hadn't been so convinced that we could save someone, even just one life, then I don't know if I would have been strong enough to fight back against everything I was taught as a child about fixed points. You should feel incredibly proud about yourself because that's no easy task".

"You welcome," Donna grinned, feeling very proud of herself indeed.

_**Okay, massive apology for the lateness of this update, I've had so much going on that I haven't had any time to sit down and just let myself write. I've also been getting really distracted by a couple of TV shows, True Blood and the Vampire Diaries, both of which are brilliant, or though True Blood is defiantly not a show for the faint of heart, but then again, if you're looking for a vampire series with lots of blood, gore, and sex then it's the perfect show for you. Anyway, I hope you liked it, please review :)**_

_**Guest reviews:**_

_**To GIWB, or if you prefer God is Wearing Black: Yep, I always try to get back to people who have reviewed it's just that sometimes I get distracted by something, mainly TV shows or even by my own imagination, one of the ways I thought up the Hatter in the first place but that's going off topic. I'm so happy to hear you love my story…I'm speechless which is saying something. So…yeah, thank you so much, and I hope that you continue to read and enjoy it. Thanks for the review :)**_

_**To guest: Thank you so much for the review, I was feeling so awful and sick on the day I received your review and I just couldn't stop smiling all day after reading it. I still can't believe that people actually like reading about the Hatter and I'm so glad that you like her. Hmm, the Hatter and Rose, well, there will be some fireworks, and I will say that this Hatter's not going to tolerate Rose's rude behaviour toward her without calling her out on it, nor will the Doctor tolerate Rose being rude toward his fiancé.**_


	7. Chapter 7 Planet of the Ood, part 1

_**Planet of the Ood, part 1.**_

The TARDIS was rocking side to side, jolting every now and then as they flew through the Time Vortex. The Hatter was laughing her head off, unable or not wanting cover up her amusement as she held on tightly to the console, watching while the Doctor and Donna were practically thrown around the room as Donna squalled every time she lost what little grip she did have on the console before regaining it.

The Doctor couldn't help but smile at the Time Lady, finding it difficult not to join her despite being thrown into the jump seat and managing to climb back up to the console, flicking a switch. Everything quickly stilled as they materialized at their unknown destination and began straightening themselves, the Hatter forcing herself to stop her laughter.

"Set the controls to random!" the Doctor grinned at the girls, "Mystery tour. Outside those doors," he pointed toward the front doors, "Could be any planet, anywhere, any when in the whole wide…"

"Donna, is everything alright?" the Hatter cut in, looking slightly concerned as she noticed Donna's face, "You look a little pale".

"Terrified," Donna replied, smiling, "I mean, history's one thing, but an alien planet…"

"I could always take you home," the Doctor suggested, earning a sharp nudge in his side from the Hatter, "Ouch! What did I do now?"

"Honestly, Doctor," the blonde shook her head, giving him a look.

"Yeah, don't laugh at me," Donna pointed a warning finger at him.

"We know what it's like," the Doctor told her, smiling at her as he stuck his hands in his trouser pockets and began walking toward her, the Hatter nodded, smiling softly as she leant against the railings, "Everything you're feeling right now. The fear, the joy, the wonder…we get that!"

"Seriously?" she stared at them both, looking amazed, "After all this time?"

"Without a doubt," the Hatter laughed, "It' one of the reasons we keep traveling!"

"Oh!" Donna nodded, smiling, "Alright, then, you and me both! This is barmy!" she shook her head, turning and heading over to the doors as the Doctor grabbed the Hatter's coat and helped the Time Lady into it before pulling his own coat on, "I was born in Chiswick," Donna continued excitedly, "I've only ever done package holidays. Now I'm here. This is…I mean, it's…I dunno. It's all so…I don't even know what the word is!" she grasped the door handle and stepped out, only to stop short as she found herself standing on a snow covered planet, the wind howling and snow falling all around her, "Oh, I've got the word, 'freezing'".

The Hatter, having heard Donna, laughed as she followed after the ginger woman, and looked around with a look of childlike glee spreading it's self quickly across her face, "Oh, isn't this just brilliant?" she called over the wind, reaching up with one hand to her hat to make sure it didn't get blown off as her hair swirled around.

"Snow!" the Doctor exclaimed as he followed after the Time Lady, looking almost as gleeful as her, "Ah! Real snow! Proper snow at last! That's more like it. Lovely. What do you think?" he looked at the girls.

"It's beyond wonderful, sweetheart," the Hatter grinned, wrapping her arms around him in an excited hug, "I love snow! Just think of all the things we can do, snow ball fights…but this time I think we can leave the cricket bat in the TARDIS, building snowmen, snow angels, ice skating…" she trailed off, frowning slightly, "Actually, forget that last one. Last time I tried ice skating I ended up spending more time lying on the ice then sliding across it. Michael loved teasing me about it".

"Ah, snowball cricket," the Doctor grinned, remembering back to his Fifth self when he and the Hatter, and there companions went on an adventure together to a planet made completely out of snow and ice where they spent the entire day playing around in the snow, eventually all ending up soaking wet and freezing cold, but still laughing. That had defiantly been a memorable day.

"Donna, what do you think?" the Hatter asked, turning to the human woman.

"Bit cold," she replied, shivering as she rubbed her bare arms.

"Look at the view!" the Doctor gestured in front of them as they looked out onto the snow topped mountains, large icicles hanging off an almost stone bridge like structure that cross a vast ravine as snow continued falling all around them, but yet there wasn't a signal cloud in the clear blue sky.

"Yep," Donna nodded, still shivering, "A beautiful…cold…view".

"Millions of planets, millions of galaxies, and we're on this one," the Doctor grinned, taking no notice of Donna, "Molto Bene!" he and the Hatter said in unison, "Blissimo!"

"Brilliant!" the Hatter laughed, linking her arm through the Doctor's as they started moving away from the TARDIS.

"Says Donna, born in Chiswick," the Doctor smiled, looking around at the landscape as he pulled the Hatter closer to his side, "You've had a life of work and sleep, telly and rent, takeaway dinners, birthdays and Christmases, and two weeks holiday a year and then you end up here! Donna Noble, citizen of the Earth, standing on a different planet. How about that, Donna?" he and the Hatter turned back around, only to find that Donna had disappeared, "Donna?" he called.

"Well, this must be a record even for us," the Hatter sighed, her head titled as she frowned at the spot where Donna had been standing.

Before the Doctor could reply, Donna emerged from the time machine, wearing a very thick and warm looking, fur-lined hooded coat, "Sorry," she called to them, "You were saying?"

"Better?" both Time Lords raised their eyebrows, laughing.

"Lovely, thanks," she nodded, smiling at them as she walked after them.

"Comfy?" the Doctor asked.

"Yep".

"Can you even hear a thing snuggled up in that?" the Hatter questioned, trying not to laugh as she eyed the thick fabric on the hood.

Donna leaned forward, pretending not to hear, "Pardon?"

The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks, trying not to laugh as the Doctor shook his head, turning back to Donna with a grin on his face, "Right," he grinned, "I was saying, citizen of the Earth…"

Suddenly, a large rocket flew over the top of them, thankfully cutting off the rest of the Doctor's speech.

"A rocket!" Donna gasped, staring up at it, "Blimey, a real, proper rocket," she smacked the Doctor and the Hatter's arms before pointing back up at it, "You've got a box…he's got a Ferrari. Come on, let's see where it's going".

She hurried passed the Time Lords, leaving them to exchange surprised and even slightly offended looks as they glanced back towards the TARDIS.

"Ferrari?" the Doctor muttered, shaking his head as he glanced at the Hatter, "She doesn't know what she's talking about".

"But don't worry about that, sweetheart," the Hatter gave him a smile, "We'll soon see to it that Donna learns the error of her ways, and in the meantime, just think about how if you wanted to then you could build a rockets that's ten…no, fifty times better than that one with using the architectural reconfiguration system in the TARDIS".

The Doctor looked at her for a moment before a large grin fixed itself to his face and he grabbed her hand, following after Donna. They continued walking, Donna staring around in amazement at the planet when the Hatter suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eyes closed.

"Hatter?" the Doctor frowned, looking at her in concern as he noticed her no longer walking at his side, "Is everything…"

"Listen," she quickly silenced him, her eyes remaining closed as an almost painful look fell across her face, "Just…clear your mind, Doctor, and focus…"

The Doctor gave her another concerned look before doing as he was told, a moment later a soft, ethereal like music filled his mind, "Hold on…" he murmured, listening closely to the sound as Donna caught up with them after she had been lagging behind, still grinning excitedly, "Can you hear that?" he asked the red head, forcing himself not to roll his eyes when he noticed her hood still up, "Donna, take your hood down".

Donna blinked and lowered her hood, "What?" she asked them, noticing the looks on their faces.

"Can you hear it?" the Hatter breathed, her eyes snapping open as she began turning around in a small circle, "That sound…it's like a song, a melody…"

Donna stared at her, having no idea what was going on, let alone what she was supposed to be hearing.

"Over there!" the Doctor shouted a moment later, pointing to something off into the distance before he and the Hatter dashed over to it. Donna sighed and ran after them, coming to a sudden stop when she caught sight of a figure half buried in the snow, only it was unlike something she had ever seen before. A large, pale head with tentacles around its mouth, a white orb like device connected with a long wire that seemed to disappear up into the mess of tentacles, sickly pale alien skin, and dressed in a strange grey suit.

"What is it?" She gasped as she watched the Time Lords kneel beside the creature.

"An Ood," the Doctor told her, searching his pockets and quickly his stethoscope out as the Hatter took the Oods hand, trying to offer him some comfort as she watched the Doctor, "He's called an Ood".

"But it's face…" Donna trailed off, staring at it.

"Donna, not now," the Doctor scolded her, trying to focus on the task at hand, trying to work out where the Oods heart was…hopefully the Hatter some idea because he really had no clue right now, "It's a 'he,' not an 'it.' Give me a hand".

"Sorry," Donna shook herself, kneeling down.

"I don't know where the heart is," he sighed, moving the stethoscope around as he listened for any trace of a heartbeat, "I don't know if he's got a heart. Hatter?" he glanced at her.

"I haven't got a clue, sorry," the Hatter shook her head regretfully, "I've meet the Ood in the past but that was only in passing, and then with all that Beast business but I never exactly had the time to examine one," she sighed and looked at Donna, "Try talking to him. Keep him going until we can find…the heart, I guess".

"It's alright," Donna said as calmly as she could, placing a soothing hand over the Ood's hand, "We've got you".

The Hatter gave him a comforting smile, "I'm the Hatter," she told him in a soothing voice as Donna stared at her with an odd look on her face, "What's your name?"

"Designated Ood Delta 50," the Ood replied, his orb lighting up as he spoke before dimming.

Donna shook herself from whatever she was thinking and gently, almost as if she was afraid that she would cause the Ood more pain picked his orb device up to her mouth, "My name's Donna," she introduced herself.

"It's alright, Donna," the Hatter told her quietly, "You don't need to do that. He can hear and understand us but he simply can't communicate verbally".

"Sorry," she apologised, looking slightly embarrassed as she placed the orb back down, "Oh, God…this is the Doctor," she nodded at the Doctor, "And so is the Hatter. Just what you need…a doctor. Couldn't be better, eh?"

"You've been shot!" the Doctor suddenly gasped, looking shocked as he stared at the Oods chest were they now noticed was covered in bullet holes. The Hatter's eyes widened as she did a double take, amazed that she hadn't noticed before as she meet the Doctor's eyes and exchanged worried looks.

"The circle…" the Ood tried talking, but it was clear that it was very painful.

"No, don't talk," Donna said in a soothing voice, placing her hand on his arm.

"The circle must be broken".

"The circle?" the Doctor questioned, frowning as the Ood's eyes began to flicker shut, "What do you mean? Delta 50, what circle? Delta 50? What circle?"

Suddenly, Delta 50s eyes snapped open, burning bright red like blood, and growled. The Doctor grabbed the Hatter's and Donna's arms, pulling them back as they watched the still growling Ood sit up, appearing to be about to try an attack them when it suddenly collapsed back into the snow, dead.

"He's gone," Donna breathed, shrugging the Doctor's grasp off her and walking over to him.

"Careful," the Doctor warned, still tense as he pulled the Hatter closer to him as the Time Lady sighed sadly as she looked back at Delta 50, wishing that they could have done more as her thoughts swirled with different ideas of what the red eyes could have meant.

Donna kneeled back down beside the Ood, placing a hand on his chest, "There you are, sweetheart," she said sadly, stroking his head, "We were too late," she glanced up at the Time Lords, "What do we do, do we bury him?"

"The snow will take care of that," the Doctor replied, gravely.

"Who was he?" she asked, "What's an Ood?"

"They're the 42nd century version of servants for humans," the Hatter explained with a sad look on her face as she looked back at Delta 50, "The Ood are mildly telepathic, I assume it's how they communicated with each other before people came along and did whatever they did to turn them into the perfect slave," she glanced at the Doctor and Donna, "That song from before…it was his mind calling out. Awful, really".

"I couldn't hear anything," Donna shook her head, standing, "He sang as he was dying".

"His eyes turned red," the Doctor frowned, looking thoughtful as he exchanged looks with the Hatter.

"Yes, that was very strange," the Time Lady agreed, nodding slowly as she titled her head to the side.

"What's that mean?" Donna asked, looking in-between them.

"Trouble," the Doctor answered.

"Doesn't it always?" the Hatter raised her eyebrows, looking slightly amused, "After all, Doctor, you are a magnet for trouble".

"If I'm a magnet for trouble then what does that make you?" he asked, trying not to smile but failing.

She gave him her most serious look, "Trouble, of course, sweetheart".

The Doctor stared at her before laughing, "Well, that explains a lot, then," he grinned, linking his arm through hers as he avoided her elbow, "Come on," he turned and started heading off in the direction that they had been going in the first place, explaining to Donna as they walked, "The Ood are harmless and completely benign…"

"They weren't so friendly the last time we meet," the Hatter remarked, recalling that little adventure that had ended with her being chloroformed, "Now that was a pleasant day, certainly an unforgettable adventure. Doctor, I know I've said this before but you sure do know how to show a girl a good time".

The Doctor shook his head at her, "Anyway, the last time we meet the Ood, there was this force…" he continued explaining to Donna, who was giving them both looks, "Like a stronger mind…powerful enough to take over".

"What sort of force?" Donna asked them.

"Long story," he said, trying to shrug it off.

"Long walk".

"It was the devil," the Hatter told her, shrugging, "Well, that's what he called himself but you never know. I'm personally still waiting for a little bit more proof then what old Beastie had to say".

"You know, if you're gonna take the Mickey I'll just put my hood back up," Donna shot them looks, making the Hatter smile.

"Must be something different this time, though," the Doctor continued, looking thoughtful, "Something closer to home…" he trailed off as he spotted something off into the distance, "Ah ha!" he shouted, smiling, "Civilization".

Donna and the Hatter followed his line of sight to see some sort of base or business building off into the distance, a building that they presumed to be the place where all the Ood were.

"Well, then," the Hatter looked at the Doctor and Donna, smiling, "Let's go say hi, shall we?"

….

"Ladies and gentlemen," the tro heard a female voice say as they neared a group of people all dressed in warm clothing as they stood outside the complex doors, listening as the owner of the voice talked, "Welcome to the Ood-Sphere and isn't it bracing? Here are your information packs with the vouchers, 3D tickets, and a map of the complex," an Ood standing slightly off to the side began handing them out, "My name's Solana, Head of Marketing. I'm sure we've all spoken on the vid-phone. Now if you'd like to follow me…"

"Sorry, sorry!" the Doctor called as he, the Hatter, and Donna quickly ran up to the young woman, stopping her before she could go any further, "We're late! Don't mind us! Hello," he gave her a friendly wave as the Hatter did the same, "The guards let us through".

"And you would be…" Solana asked slowly, eyeing them.

"The Doctor, Donna Noble, and the Hatter," the Doctor told her, holding up his psychic paper, just as he done before with the guards.

"Representing the Noble Corporation, PLC Limited, Intergalactic," Donna added, discreetly reading what it said on the paper as the Doctor purposely turned it so she could see it while they grinned at each other.

"We've been waiting for this for some time now," the Hatter said, putting on an almost critical expression to make their story more believable, "We had almost given up…"

"Must have fallen off my list," Solana hastily said, her eyes widening slightly at the thought that she might lose their businesses, "My apologies, it won't happen again. Now then, Dr, Noble, Mrs Noble, Miss Hatter, if you'd like to come with me…"

"Oh, no, no, no," the Doctor quickly cut in, looking frantic, "We're not married," he gestured to himself and Donna.

"We're _so_ not married," Donna agreed, shaking her head.

"Never," the Doctor looked at the Hatter to see her struggling to stop herself from laughing out loud as she spotted the Doctor looking at her and drew a love heart with her fingers in the air around Donna and him before quickly covering her mouth, almost shaking with laughter.

"Never ever," Donna finished, shooting a glare at the Hatter as she noticed her silent laughter.

"Of course," Solana nodded, not noticing anything that was happening with the Time Lady, "Here is your information pack. Vouchers inside," she handed the Doctor one of the packs, "Now, if you'd like to come with me, the executive suites are nice and warm…"

Suddenly an alarm began blearing somewhere, making them all stop and look around.

"Ooh, what's that?" the Doctor asked, exchanging a look with the Hatter, "Sounds like an alarm".

"Hmm, very alarm like," the Hatter muttered more to the Doctor and herself then to the woman.

"It's just a siren for the end of the work shift," Solana told them, trying to keep her voice normal but the Time Lords could tell she was lying, "Now then, this way!" she called to the others, "Quick as you can!"

The Doctor and the Hatter glanced at each other, not fooled for a second as they turned and walked inside with Donna, the other men and woman following after them as they talked with each other, not taking any notice of the alarms still blearing.

….

Solana led them into a large room where she heading straight to the front were there was a presenting podium with brightly coloured panels on the wall behind her with an Ood painted on them, and began addressing the room about the qualities of the Ood. The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks as they eyed three Ood that stood on pedestals in the middle of the room while they watched from the back of the room.

"As you can see, the Ood are happy to serve and we keep them in facilities of the highest standards," Solana continued from the front, "Here at Double-O, that's Ood Operations, we like to think of the Ood as our trusted friends. We keep the Ood healthy, safe, and educated. We don't just breed the Ood, we make them better. Because at heart, what is an Ood…but an extension of us? If your Ood is happy…then you'll be too".

The Ood buyers around the room applauded as the Time Lords raised their eyebrows, glancing at Donna as she mockingly applauded, shrugging when she notice them looking at her.

"Is it just me or do you have the strangest feeling that there's more going on around her then it appears?" the Hatter asked the other two quietly, "I mean, first Delta 50 being shot, those odd red eyes, and now that alarm going off with the excuse of it being a signal to change shifts? I don't think so".

"Or maybe that's just because were you two go something always happens," Donna shook her head.

"That to," the Time Lady titled her head, smiling slightly, "Still…"

"I'd now like to point out a new innovation from Ood Operations," Solana said as she stepped off the podium and walked over to the three Ood standing on the pedestals, "We've introduced a variety package with the Ood translator ball. You can now have the standard setting…" she stopped in front of the first Ood, "How are you today, Ood?"

"I'm perfectly well, thank you," the Ood replied with its generic voice, its orb lighting up as it spoke.

"Or perhaps after a stressful day, a little something for the gentleman?" she moved to stand in front of the second Ood, "How are you, Ood?"

"All the better for seeing you," the Ood said in a sultry, female voice.

The Hatter felt her temper flair as she grabbed the Doctor's hand and held it tightly, "As if forcing them to become slaves wasn't bad enough they have to go and change the way they speak for their own amusement," she whispered angrily so only the Doctor and Donna could hear her.

"I know," the Doctor nodded, not looking pleased by what he was witnessing either as he ran his thumb across her knuckles.

"And the comedy classic option," Solana continued, stopping at the last Ood, "Ood, you dropped something".

"D'oh!" the final Ood said, impersonating Homer Simpson, causing the audience to laugh.

The Hatter muttered something under her breath, to quite for anyone to hear but from the angry look on her face it wasn't anything friendly.

"All that for only five additional credits," Solana smiled, turning back to the buyers, "The details are in your brochures. Now, there's plenty more food and drink, so don't hole back".

The woman left the room as the buys began chatting to each other again. Making sure that no one was watching, the Doctor pulled out his glasses and slipped them on as he headed over to the control panel off to the side of the room, the Hatter right behind him. He flashed her a wink, making her smile fondly at him as he turned back to the controls and hit one of the buttons, typing in the coordinates.

"Ah, got it," he smiled as he brought up a projection of the locale galaxy onto the large screen just as Donna came up to them after getting a drink.

"The Ood-Sphere," the Hatter commented as she looked at the screen, "Nice part of the galaxy".

"I've been to this solar system before, years ago," the Doctor said as he looked at the screen, recalling going there in his first body, "Ages. Close to the planet of Sense-Sphere. Let's widen it out…" he typed something into the controls, making the image expand to show three galaxies and a sun. As they watched, a couple of dots appeared around the each galaxy with a dot in the middle before three lines appeared and connected them all in the middle, the Ood-Sphere.

"It's 4126," the Hatter said, not really needing to read off the projection in the first place, "The Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire".

"41-26?" Donna gasped at them, her eyes wide, "It's 41-26? I'm in 41-26?"

"It's good, isn't it?" the Doctor grinned at her, taking the Hatter's hand.

"What's the Earth like now?" she asked.

"Oh, you know what you humans are like," the Hatter smiled slightly, nudging her side, "Giving into all those biological urges," Donna blinked at her in surprise, "The Earth is chocker-block full, but look at that," she gestured to the projection, "The Human Empire stretchers right across three galaxies. You might even have a couple of Great, Great, Great, Great, Great…well, you get the idea, Grandchildren out there".

Donna stared at her for a moment, taking in everything she just said, "It's weird," she finally said, sounding slightly breathless as she shook her head, "I mean, it's brilliant, but…back home, the papers and the telly, they keep saying we haven't got long to live…global warming, flooding, all the bees disappearing".

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, exchanging a look with the Hatter who was frowning as she thought about what Donna had said about the Bees, there was defiantly something going on about that, "That thing about the bees is odd".

"But look at us, we're everywhere," Donna stared at the screen in amazement, "Is that a good or bad, though? I mean, are we like explorers or more like a virus?"

"Sometimes I wonder," the Doctor remarked quietly.

"What are the red dots?"

"Ood distribution centers," the Hatter answered.

"Across three galaxies?" Donna frowned at them, "Don't the Ood get a say in this?" she walked passed them and heading over to the Ood, "Um…sorry, but…" she tapped the Ood on the shoulder, "Hello. Tell me, are you all like this?"

"I do not understand, miss," the Ood replied politely.

"Why do you say, 'miss?' Do I look single?"

"Oh dear," the Hatter sighed quietly, glancing at the Doctor with a flicker of amusement in her eyes, "We take Donna all the way to the 42nd century and she ends up getting offended by something an Ood said. An _Ood_ of all things. We should have stuck to Earth".

"Back to the point," the Doctor gently nudged them, giving them pointed looks despite secretly agreeing with the Hatter.

"Yeah," Donna shook herself, looking back at the Ood, "What I mean is, are there any free Ood? Are there any Ood running wild somewhere like wildebeest?"

"All Ood are born to serve," the Ood replied simply, "Otherwise we would die".

"You can't have started off like that," Donna frowned, thinking back to what the Hatter said earlier about the Ood communicating with each other telepathically, "Before humans…" the Oods head did a funny jerk to the side, making the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks as they frowned, "What were you like?"

"The circle…" the Ood began saying just like Delta 50 had before he died.

"Hang on, circle?" the Hatter asked, stepping closer, "What circle? What do you mean?"

"The circ…the circle…is…"

"Ladies and gentlemen," Solana suddenly called from the front of the room, "All Ood to hospitality stations, please".

All the Ood, including the one they were talking to turned and left the room as the Doctor took his glasses off, slipping them back inside his pocket, and pulling a map of the complex that they had got earlier from his pocket.

"I've had enough schmoozing," he said to the girls, "Do you fancy going off the beaten track?"

"A Rough Guide to the Ood-Sphere?" Donna grinned at him, shrugging slightly, "Works for me".

"I would say that you read my mind, but I have my mental shields up," the Hatter laughed, making the Doctor laugh along with her.

"Yeah," he grinned, linking his arm through the Time Lady's before they turned and left the room without anyone noticing there exit.

…

The Doctor, the Hatter, and Donna wondered around the complex grounds, looking all around before they came to a stop at a locked, mesh gate. The Doctor pulled his sonic out and flashed it at the gate, unlocking it.

"Ood Shift 8 commencing," a voice came over the speaker system as the tro stepped through the gate, "I repeat, Ood Shift 8 commencing".

They continued walking through the grounds, finding themselves in a part that was obviously wasn't for the victors eyes as they climbed a set of metal steps that led them up to a higher viewing point where they looked down to see an open area where there where groups of Ood being marched across the open space by guards. As they watched, one of the Ood fell to its knees, causing one of the guards to stalk over to him.

"Get up," the guard ordered loudly, "I said, get up!" he shouted, cracking a whip he was holding at the Ood, the sound echoing all around them in the icy air.

"Servants?" Donna gasped as she and the Hatter looked horrified, "They're slaves".

"Get up!" the guard continued, whipping the Ood once more as he only just managed to climb back onto his feet, "March!"

"Last time we met the Ood, I never thought, never asked…" the Doctor shook his head, trailing off in thought.

"Neither of us did," the Hatter breathed, looking sick, "I can't believe I didn't…I mean, they were right in front of me and I never even thought to ask," she look at Donna and the Doctor, looking horrified by herself, "What type of person does that make me?"

"That doesn't make you a bad person, Hatter," the Doctor told her firmly, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to look at him, "We both made the mistake once, we're not going to do that again".

"Why didn't you find out last time?" Donna asked, looking in-between them. That didn't sound like something either Time Lord would do, let alone the Hatter who always seem to be the one asking questions like that despite what else might be going on around them.

"We were busy," the Doctor sighed, shrugging slightly as he pulled the Hatter into a hug, looking over her should to Donna, "So busy we couldn't save them…well, the Hatter wasn't exactly in any state to be saving anyone at the time. I had to let the Ood die. I reckon I owe them one".

"We both do," the Hatter said firmly as she stepped back from the Doctor, but she kept a tight hold of his hand.

"That looks like the boss," Donna whispered a moment later, nodding over to where a bolding man dressed in an expensive looking suit was walking across the space, along with another man dressed in a white lab coat, two armed guards, and an Ood.

"Let's keep out of his way," the Doctor said, eyeing the man as he pulled the Hatter away, tugging on Donna's arm to get her to follow, "Come on".

They hurried back down stairs and down into the open area, casting looks around to make sure no one was around to see them before they set off again and began walking around the maze of different warehouses, the Doctor and the Hatter pausing so they could check the map when a loud whistle sounded behind them, making both Time Lords duck and turn to see Donna staring at them with an amused expression on her face.

"Where did you learn to whistle?" the Doctor asked her while the Hatter rubbed her ears as they walked over to her, only just noticing her standing in front of a door.

"West Ham, every Saturday," she smiled, shrugging.

"I suppose it would come in handy then," the Hatter commented before fixing Donna with a stern look, "But next time, Donna, you find something important, please don't whistle. Time Lords have sensitive hearing".

"Right," she nodded, "Sorry".

The Doctor pulled his sonic out his pocket and flashed it at the door, sliding it open. They stepped inside to find themselves standing in a large space filled with shipping containers all waiting to be packed up and sent out by the use of a large metal claw that was moving around the room, lifting up containers and shifting them.

"Ood Export," the Doctor said, eyeing the room, "You see?" he pointed at the claw, "Lifts up the containers, takes 'em to the rocket ships. Ready to be flown out all over the three galaxies".

"What, you mean…these containers are full of…"

"What do you think?" the Doctor sighed as the Hatter looked grim. The Time Lords walked over to one of the containers and opened it, revealing a group of Ood all standing inside in something of a formation.

"Oh, it sticks," Donna quickly covered her nose, feeling like she was about to gag as the horrible smell of…well, Ood hit her, "How many of 'em do you think there are in each one?"

"It's hard to say," the Hatter sighed, looking at the Ood sadly, "There could be over a hundred, possibly more. This should all be illegal, none of this should be happening right now, and yet, here it is. Right in front of us…" she looked at the Doctor and Donna, "Doesn't it just disgust you to see a group of innocent creatures such as the Ood treated as appalling as this?"

"A great, big empire, built on slavery," Donna shook her head in disgust, agreeing with the Hatter.

"It's no different from your time," the Doctor said to her.

"Doctor, is this really the time?" the Hatter groaned, knowing perfectly well how Donna was going to react to this, even though she did have to admit that the Doctor did have a point. Regardless of the time paired, slaves and servants seem to be a common factor with humans, why they felt they needed them she didn't fully understand, but then again, Time Lords had a similar system.

"Oi, I haven't got slaves!" the ginger woman argued, shooting him a look. What on Earth was he going on about? Did she look like someone who had slaves?

"Who do you think made your clothes?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows at her as the Hatter sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead. Honestly, sometimes she wondered whether or not the Doctor even realised how close he got to being slapped, and going by the look on Donna's face, he defiantly entering the danger zone.

"Is that why you two travel round with humans at your side?" Donna demanded, glaring at them both, "It's not so you can show them the wonders of the Universe, it's so you can take cheap shots".

"Sorry," the Doctor and the Hatter apologised in unison, the Time Lady shifting uncomfortably.

"Well, don't," she told them before adding quietly, "Spaceman, lady-time," the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged smiles behind Donna's back as she turned back to the Ood, "I don't understand," she frowned, "The door was open…why didn't you just run away?"

"For what reason?" one of the Ood asked.

"For your freedom," the Hatter answered, "All you had to do was open the door and run away from here".

"I do not understand the concept".

"What is it with the Persil ball?" Donna asked, nodding to their communicating devices, "I mean, they're not born with it, are you? Why do they have to be plugged in?"

"Ood, tell me, does 'the circle' mean anything to you?" the Doctor questioned.

"The circle must be broken," all the Ood said in unison, making Donna and the Hatter exchanged looks.

"Whoa, that is creepy," the red head muttered to the Time Lady.

"Yeah, looks like I'll be having Ood nightmares tonight," the Hatter nodded, eyeing the Ood.

"But what is it?" the Doctor tried again, "What is the circle?"

"The circle must be broken," they repeated once more.

"But…why?" the Hatter frowned, shaking her head, looking confused.

"So that we can sing".

Suddenly a loud alarm began blearing through the warehouse, making them look up.

"Looks like that's our cue to run," the Hatter commented, looking at the Doctor and Donna, a small smile spreading across her face, "Come on!"

_**I'm actually surprised by how much I enjoyed writing this chapter seeing as this isn't one of my favourite episodes, or though, I do love the Ood. Well, I hope you guys liked it, tell me what you thought, please review :)**_


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